A supermarket chain’s plans for a “comprehensive redevelopment” of Peacehaven town centre have been unanimously approved by planners.
Wm Morrison Supermarkets plans to demolish the Meridian Centre, replace the Co-op with a Morrisons superstore and build 10 smaller shops and a new library.
The supermarket chain, Britain’s fifth biggest, said that its new branch would create about 190 full and part-time jobs. It said that the Co-op had 46 staff at the site.
The revamp is expected to create 200 other jobs – up from 60 at present – and that the 390 jobs in all would be worth up to £4 million a year in salaries alone.
The plans, which were first revealed by the supermarket chain back in 2021, also include some enhancement of the Community House building and the creation of a pedestrian “town square” area.
Morrisons also intends to come up with plans for some housing on the eastern edge of the site at a future date.
The scheme was approved by Lewes District Council’s Planning Committee on Wednesday (19 April).
Several committee members had warm words, including Conservative councillor Nicola Papanicalou, who represents Peacehaven West.
She said: “This is such a great development for the town. The Meridian Centre has been deteriorating for well over 30 years.
“There really is nothing for residents in the Meridian Centre. It is a sad and sorry state so to have this development is such an asset for this town.
“There were a number of open days which were very well attended by local residents and I know there was a lot of positive feedback.”
While unanimously approved, some committee members did raise some reservations about elements of the scheme.
These included concerns about the visual appearance of the final design, the way in which the building process would proceed and the loss of shopping facilities from Peacehaven town centre during construction.
Leigh Palmer, the council’s head of planning, cautioned committee members to not “throw out the baby with the bathwater”, stressing that the scheme was one that was “focused on deliverability”.
Concerns had also been raised around the size of the new library – 302 square metres – because this would be smaller than the previous Meridian Centre facility.
But these concerns were directed at the policies of East Sussex County Council rather than the Morrisons scheme itself.
For its part, East Sussex County Council said that it had been looking to downsize the library to “smaller more cost-effective premises” since 2018 because it was larger than required.
Library campaigners, however, argued that it should be significantly bigger to reflect the growing population of Peacehaven.
Notably, the plans presented by Morrisons included a similar-size unit next to the library, with campaigners hopeful that this could lead to a larger library being provided.
For further details, visit the planning portal on the Lewes District Council website and search for application reference LW/23/0018.
