A NEW manager is to be appointed to oversee the regeneration of Shoreham Harbour.

The Shoreham maritime supremo will become the driving force behind plans to breathe new life into the rundown harbour.

The successful candidate will co-ordinate development of different parts of the multi-million pound project, oversee the budget and apply for public sector funding.

Architect Graham Moss has already drawn up a blueprint, which outlines development of the harbour over the next 20 years.

It includes a media village, 2,000 new homes and light industrial units as well as leisure facilities.

The key to the whole project is the building of a £50 million tunnel linking the harbour with the A27 which will run under parts of Portslade and surface near the Hangleton Link Road.

Adur Council is one of the local authority "partners" in the project, which also includes West Sussex County Council and Brighton and Hove Council.

They are being asked to set aside £240,000 over two years to cover the cost of appointing the new manager and starting detailed work on the first part of the project.

Adur policy and resources committee will be told that seconding an existing officer from one of the partner authorities rather than appointing someone from outside is the preferred option.

When the committee meets on Tuesday they will also be asked to delay making a bid for cash from the Single Regeneration Budget until a later date.

A report by council officers says: "It is suggested the partnership starts the bidding process now and spends the next 12 to 15 months preparing a quality bid.

"Having longer to prepare the bid will allow time to properly involve the community in working up projects and seeking other funding to match SRB.

"Bids need to include projects that include local communities as well as physical regeneration projects.

"Some projects could be aimed at giving local people access to the new jobs created at the harbour."

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