Beach huts could be rented privately

Plans to rent accessible beach huts to charities in Littlehampton could instead see the huts privately rented.

The Littlehampton Beach Hut Project obtained planning permission for 13 beach huts on Littlehampton’s seafront in March, three of which will be accessible and rented out to local charities or ‘suitable’ organisations,accordingtoarundistrict Council officers.

The renting of the huts was delegated to the group head of planning by the economy committee as a spe- cial meeting on Monday,november 20. The council’s properties, estates andfacilities manager, Sam Horwill, said officers had reached out to several Arun charities and organisations to fill the accessible huts, but interest had been ‘low’ – stating the cost of renting and running the huts might be ‘prohibitive’ for potential tenants.

He said if the huts could not befilledby‘asuitableandwilling organisation’, the council might ‘lease directly to individuals’ as with the other huts.

The project has a budget of £260,000, and the council hopes to have the huts in place andleasedouttotenantsbysummer 2024 – with the project expected to break even by 2037, five years later than originally quoted.

Shaungunner(con,rustingtoneast),saidalthoughhewasin supportofdevelopingbeachhuts as a ‘revenue maker’, this project did not ‘paint a great picture’ of the council’s ability to generate income.

Mike Northeast (Lab, Courtwick with Toddington) said he had talked to a group willing to occupy one of the huts, but the project ‘didn’t just end at the beach hut’, saying it needed other facilities to complement the huts, like changing places.