In 2023, Lewes District Council’s planning committee approved long-awaited proposals to demolish the Meridian Centre in Peacehaven and replace it with a Morrisons superstore, ten smaller retail units and a new library space.
While work was initially expected to begin last year, the project is not yet underway. The supermarket chain says it is currently looking for a “development partner to bring the project forward”.
But residents say they are fed up with waiting, arguing the lack of a supermarket has had a severe impact on the town.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) visited the town last week, meeting with members of the Peacehaven and District Residents Association who held an impromptu public meeting at the Meridian Centre site to discuss what comes next.
Read more: MP urges Morrisons to end hold-up on Peacehaven site
Thomas Rose, a Peacehaven resident for more than 40 years, was among those to attend the meeting. Speaking to the LDRS, he said: “I think it is the will of the people; we need a supermarket but no one is listening. It’s been over two years now this has been closed and it is beyond a joke.”
The LDRS also spoke to sisters Sarah Baverstock and Stacey Collier.
She added: “My family and friends have to help me get the shopping now, because it was easier to come just down the road to the supermarket here. We do need a supermarket.”
Ms Collier said: “I think it is very degrading for Peacehaven not to have a centre or a supermarket. I think it is very poor of Morrisons to let us down like this.”
She added: “There are elderly people, there are disabled people, like my sister, who are struggling. This was a daily outing for some people, to get their food shopping, to see people and now they are having to rely on others, which takes their self-esteem away from them.”
Julie Alexander, chairwoman of Peacehaven and District Residents’ Association, argued the lack of progress on the project had harmed the character of the town centre.
She said: “It’s not just the supermarket that’s missing, it’s all the smaller shops around there that you need in a town centre.
“It is the heart of Peacehaven and it is slowly stopping beating, because there is nowhere socially for people just to bump into people.”
Mrs Alexander also highlighted a petition launched by the town’s MP Chris Ward, which calls on Morrisons to “honour its commitments” to the town. This petition has been signed by more than 1,800 people at time of publication.
“They promised us a bus to take people to the nearest Morrisons; they haven’t done that. They put in a free click and collect service, which ran for about 18 months now it’s all being charged for. They’ve done nothing to help us at all.”
He added: “What I am saying is build it or butt out. Sell it off. You’ve either got to build it now or you sell it to someone who will build something, because we don’t have a supermarket, we have a lousy road running through the town and we need a supermarket here and we need it like now.”
Morrisons first unveiled its development plans in 2021, securing planning permission for the development in 2023.
The supermarket chain had been expected to break ground last year, but, in a statement shared with Peacehaven Town Council last October, said it began to look at “revised proposals” as a result of “rising construction costs” and “changes in market demand on the retail units proposed”.
When approached for comment by the LDRS, a Morrisons spokesman said: “We appreciate that the development has taken a number of years to progress.
“However, we have now appointed external property advisers to help find a development partner to bring the project forward and deliver a new viable town centre for Peacehaven.
“We will provide an update as soon as we are in a position to do so.”
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