A NOSTALGIC caravan and motorhome park is set to be demolished to make way for more than 100 new homes.
At its height, the park housed dozens of caravans and camper vans and was popular with families and pet owners.
The Northbrook Farm Caravan and Motorhome Club Campsite in Worthing, West Sussex, is now to be demolished as part of the Government’s bid to build 1.5 million homes by the end of this parliament.
In a statement released on Monday, October 13, councillors on Adur and Worthing councils announced they had agreed to sell the huge piece of land to an unnamed developer.
The 14.3-acre (5.7 hectare) site, to the north of Titnore Way was previously used by the Caravan Club.
“The former Caravan Club site has been designated for housing for many years so I’m delighted that we are on our way to making that a reality,” said councillor Sophie Cox, the leader of Worthing Borough Council.
“We desperately need more homes for our residents, in particular affordable homes because so many local households do not have somewhere secure to live long-term.”
In the statement posted on Adur and Worthing councils website, Councillor Cox said it was important homes were built on sites such as the former caravan park and not on green spaces “that our community rightly values so highly”.
Much-needed homes
A spokesperson for Adur and Worthing councils added that as well as providing homes for 46 households on Worthing’s housing waiting list, the site would include 84 “much-needed properties for anyone to buy”.
“The sale will allow us to reduce how much we owe in borrowing,” they added.
“This will mean funds that would have been spent on interest and debt repayment can instead be invested in services for the community.”
Completion of the sale to the unnamed developer is conditional on the buyer securing planning permission for 130 new homes on the land.
Of these, 35 would be for affordable rent and 11 shared ownership.
The details of the proposed sale were examined by councillors before they agreed to the sale, added the spokesperson.
The name of the proposed buyer and the fee involved are “commercially sensitive”, they said.
The spokesperson added the details “will be revealed once the contracts have been agreed and signed”.
The sale of the former Caravan Club park comes as Labour has vowed to build 1.5 million homes by the end of this parliament.
Sir Keir Starmer‘s Government is determined to press ahead with its ambitious plans to build more than 1.5 million homes before the end of the next parliament.
Last month, ministers announced plans to spend more than £40 billion building a dozen new towns in the UK.
According to the plans, each of the dozen new towns will have at least 10,000 homes.
Labour has said the towns represent “the next generation of cutting-edge communities”.
Speaking to delegates at the Labour party conference last month, Steve Reed, the housing secretary, said the project is designed to “restore the dream of home ownership” for families priced out of the market.
New towns for the UK – 12 sites revealed
THE UK is expected to see the construction of a dozen new towns as part of a new Government scheme.
Estimated to cost a total of £48 billion, this new generation of homes hopes to tackle the housing crisis.
Housing Secretary Steve Reed pledged that construction will begin at three of the locations before the next election.
Speaking at Labour’s party conference, he said the Government will “do whatever it takes to get Britain building”.
Labour plans to take forward the construction of 12 new towns as recommended by a report from the Government’s New Towns Taskforce.
While the locations are spread across the country, priority for construction in the current Parliament will likely be given to Tempsford in Bedfordshire, Leeds South Bank, and Crews Hill, north London.
Labour has described each of these locations as the “most promising sites”.
Tempsford, home to 600 people in around 300 houses, has been earmarked as a potential hub on the Oxford–Cambridge growth corridor, at the crossroads of the East-West rail line and the East Coast Mainline railway.
Meanwhile, Leeds South Bank is already part of a significant regeneration scheme which aims to double the size of the city centre.
And similarly, Crews Hill in Enfield, located around 12 miles from the centre of London, is already the subject of a draft local plan.