UK Victorian seaside town that inspired Oscar Wilde play to get...

A VICTORIAN seaside town that inspired Oscar Wilde’s most famous play is to be given a multi-million pound makeover.

Work to transform town centre with performance areas, hospitality kiosk and a living “green wall”;; is due to begin in the next few weeks.

A newly pedestrianised zone has been branded a waste of money with a silly design at a huge cost to the taxpayer along Montague Place in Worthing, West Sussex. Wiggly white lines were added to the new tarmac surface which has cost £178,000 as part of an improvement scheme, of which £23,500 was spent on design and management fees and £1,230 on the painting of the swirly white lines. The Worthing Society Committee were dismayed to see the appearance of the ‘swirly’ white lines and urged the council to remove the harsh, intrusive white lines as soon as practically possible. Writing on Facebook Sue Belton Worthing Society Chair added, ‘This area is part of the historic South Street Conservation Area and should showcase the town linking Montague Street to the seafront promenade. In our opinion these extensive white lines are over-dominant. They detract from the historic character of the listed buildings’ Previously the road was used as parking for the disabled for a very short walk to the shops. Now tarmacked, the area has allowed cafe’s and restaurants to have more outdoor seating, along with new wooden planters which are yet to have flowers and shrubs planted. People took to Facebook to give their views, Tamara Murray wrote ‘Huge shame, waste of money and silly design. By taking away the safe disabled parking there it will take away business from Worthing.’ Andrea Bristow added, ‘It looks like a kid has been let loose with a white line machine! What an absolute mess.’ ‘Looks tacky and a terrible waste of money’ wrote another mystified resident. Roy Hammond saw the funny side writing, ‘I think this is very thoughtful of the council. It’s an effort towards all the drunks in Worthing to make them think they are walking in straight lines.’ Following a freedom of information request to Adur & Worthing Council, they responded with the costings, ‘The pedestrianisation of Montague Place has cost £178,000, of which £23,500 was full technical scheme design and management fees. This was fully funded by the high street grants provided by the government to the Borough Council in response to the re-opening of the high street following the lifting of restrictions. The costs of the decorative white lining were £1,230, which included the cost of material and installation. These costs are included in the overall cost envelope above.’ Please credit: Paul Jacobs/pictureexclusive.com Standard reproduction rates apply, contact Paul Jacobs, Picture Exclusive to arrange payment - 07923 866166, pictureexclusive@gmail.com — The original design zone was branded ‘a waste of money’ with a ‘silly design’ at a huge cost to the taxpayer

The move to revamp the area comes after residents deemed the original design of the newly pedestrianised zone a “waste of money”;; and criticised its “tacky”;; design.

“Wiggly”;; white lines were added to a new tarmac surface in 2022 as part of a £178,000 scheme to make its town centre car-free and “brighten up”;; the area.

The lines will now be removed with the area at the centre of a £3.1m renovation project to create a community space, dubbed Montague Gardens.

The project, a joint venture between Worthing Borough Council and County Council, will also include lawn space and children’s play equipment.

Work on the project is expected to take 15 to 18 months, a spokesperson for Worthing Borough Council said.

A spokesperson for the council confirmed to The Sun the work is due to begin in the “next couple of weeks”;;.

One resident who is looking forward to the latest development in the area is Susan Belton, chair of the Worthing Society, which openly criticised the “wiggly lines”;; scheme”;;.

“We weren’t happy with those lines at all,”;; she told The Sun. “They just weren’t in keeping with the historical context of the area, which dates back to 1783.

“There are many listed buildings in that area and we need more of a red brick setting than what is there at present.”;;

Regeneration project, , Montague Gardens in Montague Place, Worthing, , https://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/montague-place-worthing/, , Final designs for the new green space, to be called Montague Gardens, have been agreed after input from residents, access groups, businesses and community groups., , The project forms part of the public realm regeneration programme within the current Worthing Growth Deal - a partnership between Adur & Worthing Councils and West Sussex County Council., , — Final designs for the new green space, to be called Montague Gardens, have been agreed after input from residents, access groups, businesses and community groups

Worthing Borough Council said the original design was a temporary measure which was then followed by public consultation.

The space, which will connect Montague Street to Worthing seafront, will be paid for by £2.7 million of funds raised from developers building in the area, as well as £400,000 from West Sussex County Council.

The space will be inspired by early-19th Century gardens, the council added.

Montague Gardens is the third such project to begin in Worthing alongside previous improvements to Portland Road and ongoing construction works in Railway Approach.

The projects are part of wider regeneration plans for the town centre as part of the Worthing Growth Deal between the councils.

While the area under development dates back to the 18th century, in the summer of 1894 Irish playwright spent two months in the seaside town, initially with his wife Constance and his two young sons.

It was during this holiday that he wrote his most famous play, The Importance of Being Earnest, with Wilde believed to have named the main protagonist, Jack Worthing, in honour of the Victorian town.

The resort was also the inspiration for acclaimed Hollywood and director , with Worthing’s Pavilion Theatre used as a filming location for his ode to cinema movie The Empire of Light.

Susan added she was pleased the council had listened to residents and performed a U-turn.

“I think the fact residents and our society came out against the original design had something to do with the change in direction,”;; she said. “I’m just glad the council listened to the historical context of the area.”;;