Groundbreaking step for Littlehampton community centre

Although it may not look like much yet, in a few months’ time this modest patch of earth and rubble will soon house a gleaming new community hall, with improved playing field facilities, in a project worth more than £800,000.

Representatives from Littlehampton Town Council, which has provided the lion’s share of funding for the project, got their hands dirty, during a ground breaking ceremony.

Littlehampton mayor, Alan Gammon, who plunged a special spade into the ground to mark the build, said: “A community centre in Beaumont Park has been long overdue. A lot of residents of Brookfield ward have asked, for a long time, for a community facility.

“To now be able to deliver this vital centre, is an outstanding achievement, and a very exciting prospect for the residents in this ward.”

The town council has provided £500,000 worth of funding, with further contributions from Arun District Council and Taylor Wimpey, developers of the Elysian Fields housing estate at Toddington.

The improvements will include new changing facilities, which will replace the ageing ones already on the site.

The centre will contain two community halls, as well as a kitchen, central courtyard and toilets.

Further work is being carried out to improve the well-used Southfields football pitches.

The eastern two-thirds of the site will be levelled, with a new footpath installed around the eastern half of the recreation ground, to relieve pressure on the pitches.

Joyce Bowyer, chairman of the town council community resources committee, said: “We’re the ones who had the vision to put in the money to help provide these beautiful facilities.

“This is all part of the council’s five-year plan to help improve the Littlehampton community.”

Once finished, it is hoped that the building could be used for a variety of different clubs and organisations.

Others at the council are also pushing to set up a management committee, which will be run by people living near the centre.

Arun and town councillor Dr James Walsh said: “This is the culmination of 30 years’ hard work.

“When South Beaumont and North Beaumont Park were built, there was a promise that a community centre would also be constructed.

“This promise was never fulfilled by the developer and it took the vision of the town council to step in.

“Now, after a long wait, this part of the Littlehampton community will finally have its own centre.”