Hands off red pavements

People living in the Heatherstone Road area of East Worthing are preparing to meet with, and present a 100-signature strong petition, to the man who will make the final decision about the fate of the 80-year-old pavements.

Irene Richards, county councillor for the area, told the Herald: "Residents just don't want black Tarmac.

"With all the money the borough council is spending on making the town and seafront look better it seems criminal for the county council to remove the red bricks and replace them with Tarmac."

Supporters of the campaign will be out in force on Friday morning, making their voices heard, when West Sussex County Council's Lieutenant Colonel Tex Pemberton is due to pay a visit and formally receive the petition.

Mrs Richards said the pavements were a "bit of a health hazard" and needed to be replaced, but not with Tarmac.

She said: "The state of the red brick pavements in this area is disgusting.

"I have been actively working with residents for the last six years to ensure these pavements are replaced with red bricks.

"The red brick pavements in this area, Heatherstone, Malvern and Thallassa Roads should all be replaced with the red bricks at the same time."

She added: "Residents, without a single exception, want to keep the red bricks.

"Not only are they nice to look at but they enhance the scene of East Worthing and we need to do everything we can to make East Worthing look as nice as it is."

A spokesman for West Sussex County Council said they would not comment on the situation, except to say Lieutenant Colonel Pemberton would be visiting with an "open mind" and would make his decision after hearing what all residents had to say.