The news that it would cost at least £17m to refit the Grafton MSCP car park comes as no surprise. It has been known for many reasons that this concrete structure had a limited life and regular maintenance work had been done over the years to keep it open, whilst still maintaining car parking. There is little doubt that the Labour council will decide to permanently shut it.
Alongside that maintenance the previous Conservative administration initiated an extensive piece of work to start the process to bring this site to the market for redevelopment. This included purchasing the adjoining properties that abut Montague Street and working with partners to understand the complexity of the site in terms of Knightsbridge House, UK power networks and the service road to Marks and Spencer amongst a host of other issues. This work was concluded in 2022 and was ready to go to the market.
A change of control of the council in 2022 and a new Labour administration saw this work put in hold and not progressed. In 2023/24 they finally took this to market and received expressions of interest from developers. Yet again this work was quietly put to one side and not progressed. No one seems to be able to explain why.
Now in 2025 with the forced closure of the car park they are rushing to launch a fresh marketing of the site to find a developer. The leader of the council has gone on record stating they hope to appoint a developer next year in 2026, but what she hasn't said is that the time involved in formally selling this site, the developer securing planning permission and the having the opportunity to build out, the sheer practicalities of all this will undoubtedly see this site lay dormant and boarded up for the next 3 to 5 years.
Cllr Kevin Jenkins, leader of the Conservative group said; 'It's hard to believe that the council have allowed themselves to get into this situation. The hard work on this site had been done and was given on a plate for them to take to market. The reality is that this closure should have been a 'planned closure' as a developer moved in to regenerate this site with a strong mixed use plan for housing, leisure and retail, finally joining Montague Street up with the Lido and the seafront. Yet here we are with 3 years of lost opportunity and now a prime site on our seafront will be boarded up and left to rot even further. Add to all this the other sites around the town that they have ignored such as Teville Gate, Decoy Farm and the Durrington Caravan and Camping Club site, we are missing so many opportunities for much needed new housing and employment.'
'However, amongst all this we mustn't forget our hard pressed businesses in the town, who are working tirelessly to offer a great service to visitors and residents in, at times, harsh market conditions. The good news is that with the refurbishment of the Buckingham Road car park and the new multi-storey car park at the Civic centre, all commissioned by the previous Conservative administration anticipating the arrival of this day; Worthing is in a strong position to support its traders, residents and visitors with an abundance of car parking spaces available at these sites and of course the High Street MSCP. The message has always been that Worthing has a great diverse offer, with many unique independent businesses and a food and drink offer to be proud of. So I would encourage everybody to take the opportunity to come into town and support our traders, enjoy what's on offer and remember to make time for Worthing as it remains open for business.'
