'Charity superstore' expansion approved in Worthing

Guild Care will soon expand its Meadow Road ‘superstore’ after Worthing Borough Council’s planning committee gave permission for a change of use on Wednesday (September 21).

The charity has 10 shops selling bric-a-brac, clothes, and furniture.

This includes the Greenhouse – its ‘charity superstore’ on Meadow Road which collects, repairs, and sells second-hand goods.

Now the Greenhouse can expand to unit 3 (next door) for the next three years.

The space has been empty since January and was previously used for removals storage and was the council’s former depot for refuse lorries.

A planning statement says this is a ‘logical expansion’ which would make use of the existing building with minor alterations inside.

Much like the current Greenhouse, the ground floor will be used as a large, open plan retail area open seven days a week.

It will provide employment for five staff and 30 to 40 volunteers.

Planning committee members were overwhelmingly in favour of the idea, with some saying they had bought furniture from the Greenhouse themselves.

Jon Roser (Lab, Selden) spoke in favour of the plans on Wednesday.

“Guild Care plays an important part in the life of Worthing through the services that they provide; job opportunities they offer to members of community; and the chance they provide for customers to buy low-cost, recycled items which, as we probably all appreciate, is very important because we face a cost of living emergency and a climate emergency,” he said.

“I recently had the opportunity to visit the Greenhouse.

“[This] made it clear that [Guild Care] are currently very pushed for space and I was informed that they are having to turn donations away which probably means stuff going to landfill which doesn’t need to.”

The charity had hoped to gain temporary permission for five years and some councillors argued for a compromise.

However, planning officers argued that three years would be ‘appropriate’ as it would be less likely to interfere with any future redevelopment of the unit.

More details can be found at the council’s planning portal using reference: AWDM/0387/22.