After years of trying to find a site in Sussex, and months of speculation that they had one in mind, Ikea has finally announced it is hoping to open a store in Lancing as part of a major new development spearheaded by Brighton and Hove Albion FC.
Today, the Swedish furniture giant announced it is aiming to bring a new 35,000m2 store to Lancing as part of a comprehensive development including 600 new homes, a primary school, country park and new major roundabout on the A27 at New Monks Farm.
The site is about a 25 minute drive from the centre of Brighton. The next nearest stores are Croydon and Southampton, both of which take more than an hour to reach, much more in traffic.
New Monks Farm Development Company, a subsidiary of Brighton and Hove Albion, will be holding a public exhibition next weekend, ahead of submitting a planning application.
Draft plans for the proposed new store and further development of the area can be seen at the exhibition which will take place at The Shoreham Centre, 2 Pond Road, Shoreham on:
Friday 27 January 2017 from 2pm to 8pm
Saturday 28 January 2017 from 10am to 2pm
In addition the plans will also be on display at an exhibition which is due to take place on: Wednesday 1 February 2017 from 4pm to 8pm at Lancing Parish Hall, 96 South St, Lancing.
The store would provide affordable high-quality home furnishing products as well as a restaurant, crèche, children’s play area and customer car park, making a visit to the store a fun day-out for the whole family.
Bringing a new IKEA store to Lancing will also create 430 local jobs offering both full and part-time positions in a wide variety of roles, including customer relations, sales, interior design and food services. All Ikea co-workers will be paid the Real Living Wage.
Tim Farlam, Real Estate Manager for Ikea, said: “At Ike we are committed to being a good neighbour and true partner in our local community. Prior to submitting the planning application, Ikea together with New Monks Farm Development Company would like to meet with the local community and hear their views.
“At Ikea our vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people. We want to make Ikea more accessible and are very excited to be opening a number of new stores around the UK. This site presents a great opportunity, given its scale, accessibility and location. A new store here would provide people from the greater Brighton area with relevant home furnishing solutions and will create local jobs.”
Martin Perry, Director of New Monks Farm Development, said: “We are delighted to be working with Ikea, they share our values recognising the talent of their co – workers and contributing to the quality of life of the local people in the community.
“This is part of a wider major regeneration scheme in Lancing that is in line with the emerging Adur Local Plan. In addition to the significant employment generated through this development by Ikea, 600 homes for local families will be created, supported by a new primary school, a country park and replacing the Sussex Pad traffic lights with a major new roundabout on the A27 will improve the situation for commuters and open up new jo opportunities on Shoreham Airport.”
Neil Parkin, Leader of Adur District Council said: “I am pleased to see the strong investment interest that is being shown in Lancing and in the whole Adur District. We are clear that we want to attract world class developments which create homes and jobs for local people.
“I am looking forward to working with Brighton and Hove Albion, and now with Ikea, to achieve our ambitions for one of the most high profile strategic sites identified in our Local Plan.
“The proposal from New Monks Farm Development Ltd and Ikea must fully address concerns the local community has around flooding and sustainable development at this key site through a clear and convincing business case. Once completed, our District will benefit from an annual £11.5m economic injection, and which will allow us to continue delivering high quality services and helping people to do great things in Adur.”
Warren Morgan, Leader of Brighton and Hove City Council said: “Brighton and Hove City Council helped Ikea review sites within the city with a view to finding a home for a new store but we were unable to find anywhere that was suitable.
“We are delighted that IKEA is locating within the greater Brighton area, particularly given their commitment as a real living wage employer.
“The jobs and training opportunities that the new store will bring is great news for everyone living in the greater Brighton region.”
it would have helped if you had in cluded a site plan with the article. spo we can see where it is located
How can they even think of proposing this?? Have they spent any time in the area? The traffic problem is at it’s worse and this will make it unbearable. I can’t afford to live near Brighton or Worthing so I commute to work, this commute is taking longer and longer every year. It takes 50 mins to travel 6 miles in rush hour- surely this will get worse with the Ikea in place? From Littlehampton it already takes an hour 1/2 at the weekends to get anywhere near Brighton, an Ikea in Lancing will make this 10 times worse! I fail to see how putting a roundabout will help anything. This is detrimental to the quality of life of residents in Sussex. There is too much being crowded into a small strip of coastline.
The Ikea in Southampton at the weekend is hell on earth, queues every where, congestion in every road full of people wanting to get in to the store. I really hope this doesn’t get pushed through
Madness to consider anything of this scale on the stretch of road. It’s not just the store but the hundreds of houses also.
Look at the terrible decision that was made to put Lyons farm on the A27.
The number of flats going up on Shoreham seafront has made this route totally congested so more traffic is going on the A27 to avoid it.
There is no way even with the expressway options being discussed for the A27, that Lancing can cope with this development in terms of congestion.
Great news can’t wait
I am in favour of this store although the infrastructure needs to be in place too. It will bring employment to the area. Certainly the A27 needs the decades old awaited upgrade. People think that the A27 is a unique problem in this area but most of the country suffers traffic congestion with an ever increasing population. There would be less traffic if rail fares were sensibly priced. I would like to see these new proposed homes aimed towards the young and affordable.
Will cause the A27 to turn into complete gridlock between Lancing and Shoreham. Travelling by road between Brighton and Worthing will become an ordeal of biblical proportions instead of merely a regular nightmare.
I would suggest that they look seriously at how many insurance companies would be willing to insure the homes against flooding, not just until they flood, but afterwards as well, and not at an inflated price. No insurance, no mortgage. Here’s another suggestion, maybe Neil Parkin, Martin Perry and Warren Morgan should all buy their homes there and see how they like raw sewage pumping “UP” from their toilets!!! Perhaps our MP the nice but dim TIM can conjure up some more millions to deal with the influx of traffic!!! It’s all non-doable and pie in the sky!!
It’s a ridiculous site for an Ikea of all things that produce large volumes of extra traffic. This area is rammed dawn to dusk and frankly the argument that, whilst true, everywhere is too crowded doesn’t mean it should go up here. A better site would be Pease Pottage off the A23 and would be quicker to drive the 25 miles here from Brighton than the 6 to Lancing.
I’m assuming those who are against the store won’t be shopping there then and are quite happy to clog up the roads elsewhere.
Completely agree with all the comments above. Looking forward to Swedish meatballs and travelling there and back by TRAIN on lovely Southern Railway 😉
are there any plans available to view on line for those who have to work (a lot like me have to work out of the area and limited on spare free time at the weekends) and were unable to go and view the exhibitions
will they be building on green belt land?
Perhaps drivers could think of leaving cars at home and using the bus service which is great “the pulse” and I am sure that the local company could work with the Council/Ikea/Parish Council and all interested to have a couple of new bus routes to the store one from Brighton to Ikea; the other from Worthing to Ikea. The roundabouts need to be looked at and slip roads to ease congestion. Park and Ride too – why not!
In view of Brexit no matter what side we are on we need investment in the area and opportunities for young people plus Ikea is not ageist so retired people may want an opportunity also.
In terms of housing keep it GREEN with as much landscaping as possible cycle paths linked to shoreham, Lancing , Worthing for local people who work locally. Cycle sheds in the housing development creating healthier communities. Create a wonderful opportunity and a new vision of how we can all live comfortably in our local environment development does not necessarily mean loss but a great Gain.