Developers have unveiled designs for a £100 million vision to transform a seaside resort.

Hanson Capital Management has released computer-generated images of what might be built on the former Teville Gate shopping precinct in Worthing, which became a vandalised no-go area before it was demolished last year.

They show two glass towers containing hundreds of apartments as opposed to the one taller tower originally suggested.

Worthing Borough Council has now received revised plans for the site, just to the south of the town's main railway station.

The scheme includes more than 250 new homes in the tower blocks, a swimming pool, a sports and fitness complex, a multi-screen cinema, a 24-lane ten-pin bowling centre, a 750-seat bingo club, restaurants, shops, cafes, bars, landscaped public spaces with outdoor cafes, a pedestrian arcade and 635 car parking spaces.

A spokesman for Hanson said the scheme would establish "a unique new front door to Worthing" and revitalise a "lost" area.

He said: "This is the most significant development in Worthing for many years and one which grasps the opportunity to create a new landmark building on this strategic and neglected gateway site.

"The scheme will provide a broad sustainable mix of leisure, commercial and residential uses at the geographical centre of Worthing, adjoining both the town centre and main rail station.

"It reintegrates a 'lost' site within Worthing, establishing a new pedestrian route which reconnects the town centre to the station."

Hanson said the environmental impact of the tower blocks on views of the Downs had been "sensitively balanced" with the need to provide housing in a town running out of building land.

The developers had spent six months sifting through the results of public consultation before submitting the new plans.

The swimming pool, which would replace the Aquarena, would be 25m long and have eight lanes, while the cinema would boast between eight and ten screens.

However, people living in the area fear there isn't enough parking provided in the scheme, resulting in motorists clogging up their streets with cars.

Thursday, June 15, 2006