Littlehampton town centre public realm improvements

Littlehampton arcade

Littlehampton town centre public realm improvements is a major regeneration project designed to make the town centre a more attractive place to visit, shop and enjoy for residents and visitors.

“Public Realm” is described as the public spaces between shops and buildings and includes the pedestrianised shopping area, town centre roads, pavements, lighting, public seating, street furniture and trees.

In 2016, the District Council ran a series of public consultation exercises on design proposals for improvements to the main shopping areas.

This included “walkabout” sessions with key stakeholders to identify problem areas, a public exhibition of the draft design plans and materials and a detailed survey of traders to explore their aspirations and hopes for the town centre.

The feedback (see Town Centre Public Realm Consultation Report 2016.pdf [pdf] 2MB), helped shape the final Littlehampton Town Centre Public Realm Improvements designs which were approved by Arun’s Full Council in 2016.

The Littlehampton Town Centre Public Realm Improvements comprises five key phases projected to cost around £6 million. Funding of £3.5 million is now in place to deliver two key phases of the scheme.

This includes £2.45 million from the Government’s Coastal Communities Fund (confirmed in April 2019), £564,000 from Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership Local Growth Fund (confirmed in October 2019) and £200,000 from both Arun District Council and Littlehampton Town Council (confirmed in December 2019).

In 2021 Edburton Contractors and Project Centre reviewed the original LDA Design Brief (2016) to create the new detailed designs of the new look for the town centre (below). They are currently preparing detailed technical, structural and engineering plans before construction work can start on site. As part of the current contract, Project Centre and Edburton Contractors have also completed the design stages for the proposed improvements outside the current scope from Littlehampton railway station (Terminus Road) to the High Street so that this phase is “shovel ready” if, and when further funding is available.

East Street arcade clocktower high street

Arun District Council plans to apply for further external funding to complete all phases of Littlehampton Town Centre Public Realm Improvements as the project progresses.

Construction on the initial phases are expected to commence in January 2022.

Coronavirus Crisis

In 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic severely affected the Council’s ability to move the Littlehampton Town Centre Public Realm Project Improvements forward.

Obviously, our priority was – and remains - providing support and guidance for all the District’s shops and businesses affected by the crisis. Visit our Covid-19 Business Support pages for more information.

banner with logos for arun district council and partners

Your Questions Answered

We have pulled together a list of Questions and Answers (Q & A) which provides more details about the project and aims to answer any questions you may have about the scheme.

We will continue to update the Q & A document as the project progresses.