We are happy that the old National School/Town Hall building has been retained within the development, but what is proposed should be totally in sympathy and in scale with its present environment.

The proposed development fails to achieve this.

Our criticism is not of the building proposed, as such, but of its suitability for this sensitive location in a conservation area.

A great deal of effort has been made over many decades to conserve the very special nature of the delightful churchyard of St. Mary's Church and its immediate surroundings, and it would be a tragedy if this were now destroyed merely by lack of care.

The church is one of the finest of its type in the country and, accordingly, very important.

Alterations to its neighbouring buildings have taken place over more than 900 years, but always in a size and scale that complemented it.

The Shoreham Society is confident that a happy solution can be found that will be in keeping with this context, both in terms of style and scale, but genuine public consultation is a requisite if we are to avoid discontent about what buildings we have to live with long after the developers have disappeared.

The Shoreham Society was able to meet the developers on the site in October and, on October 29, we sent an email to them expressing our views, but we have yet to receive a reply and are, therefore, apprehensive that public wishes may yet again be ignored.

Michael Norman
The Shoreham Society

NOTE: All letters must include a name and address which can be withheld by request.

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