Dismay over ‘bleak’ Horsham subway

The subway - which links North Street and Station Road - was transformed into an attrative walkway after previously being branded a no-go area with frequent ‘smelly’ flooding.

Volunteers and members of Horsham In Bloom stepped in and carried out a major spruce-up of the area. Along with a clean-up, flowers and shrubs were planted alongside the subway entrance.

Now dismay is again being voiced following the removal of plants and the concreting over of former planting areas.

Horsham District Councillor Christine Costin said: “The subway used to look attractive and contributed to a sense of wellbeing for those using it.” Now, she said: “It’s so bleak.

“It’s very distressing that people who have made lots of effort in the past to improve Horsham to suddenly see it looking so grim.”

She added: “This little Twitten matters to local people and no one wants to see it return to being a damp, eerie and unfriendly route that people avoid using. I know people are really quite upset about it.”

And in posts on social media, residents have described the subway as ‘ugly’ and queried why the area had been concreted over without public consultation.

Fears have also been expressed that the concrete could again lead to more flooding problems in future.

Network Rail has been approached for comment.