The Barber’s Chair has been at the bottom of Seaford’s high street for the past 15 years but has now closed due to years of problems including mould, as well as “bricks and bolts” falling off the roof.
It was one of the businesses underneath the controversial Talland Parade scaffolding which towered over the town for nearly a decade after planning permission was granted for ten flats in 2012.
The scaffolding has been the centre of a longstanding legal battle which culminated in Lewes District Council taking the owner to High Court to get the scaffolding removed.
But the “derelict” site in Saxon Lane remained largely untouched for the past 12 years and has blighted the lives of residents and businesses around it.
Hairdresser Gary Bedford, 47, from Seaford, closed to look after his mental wellbeing and launched a scathing attack on the landlord Vision Properties Ltd, Lewes District Council and Maria Caulfield.
He said: “It is very sad to close, I had to break away for my mental state really. I went to pieces.
“An estate agent came for a haircut and had water dripping on his suit, he doesn’t need mouldy water dripping on him from the ceiling. I thought ‘Is this how I want to present my business?’.
“I am sorry to my customers, I miss them all. But I can’t keep doing this to myself mentally.
“I have had lots of texts from customers saying sorry to see it closed.
“It has been nine years of problems. They evicted everyone out of the flats to develop the site. They knocked the top half down and then haven’t done anything for a decade.
“I am going to take a break to fix my head. I had a good business, it has been hard to walk away but I cannot take it any longer. The site owner is an absent landlord.
“My message to the council and Maria Caulfield is that they showed no support to us businesses whatsoever.
“The fact bricks and bolts were falling off the roof, scaffolding was almost coming through the window.
“Maria Caulfield has been useless, she once said she was going to get a committee together and get compensation for the shops. But then as soon as the cameras turn away, nothing.
“Each organisation says it’s not their problem. They passed on the baton.”
Mr Bedford previously told The Argus he feared closing back in February 2022.
High Court judge master Mark Gidden ordered that the scaffolding be taken down and a protective coating works be put on the roof to stop it from leaking on July 25 last year.
Mr Bedford said there has still been no development on the site since then. It is owned by Vision Properties Ltd which lists David Rabson as the director.
Emails obtained by The Argus reveal that businesses have complained about damp on the site as far back as September 2016.
Talk of legal enforcement action from Lewes District Council has been mentioned since at least September 2017.
Charity shop Autism Sussex is understood to have moved to a new location in Seaford due to damp issues and part of the ceiling falling in.
A spokeswoman for the district council said many people and organisations have worked “very hard to secure the removal of this eyesore”.
She said: “For many years, residents and businesses in Seaford had to endure living under the shadow of the scaffolding in Talland Parade. We appreciate how difficult it was for businesses to operate with the scaffolding in place and greatly sympathise with them all.
“It was only after we lodged a public nuisance claim with the High Court, after having exhausted every other legal avenue, that it was finally removed, much to everyone’s relief.”
Maria Caulfield said she was “very sorry” that Mr Bedford felt that way and claimed she fought “tooth and nail” to get the council to act.
She said: “I wish I had it in my power to force the owners to get the building improved but I don’t and I also have no powers to allow for compensation either but I very much understand how this has impacted on Gary and the other business owners.”
Vision Properties Ltd were approached for comment.
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