Worthing clean-up drive brings together council and community action

A series of council and community-led clean-up projects are continuing across Worthing, with volunteers tackling the seafront while the borough council increases cleansing work and takes action over privately-owned areas of the town centre.

Volunteers taking part in the Rotary Club of Tarring Park’s second Community Day of Action worked across the seafront from Heene Terrace to East Beach on Sunday. They picked litter, cleaned benches, bins and other street furniture, and removed weeds from the Pavilion and Atrium steps and along the promenade. The work was carried out ahead of Worthing Carnival this weekend and involved local organisations, councillors, council officers and community volunteers.

The volunteer activity forms part of a wider range of efforts to improve the appearance of the town, including Worthing Borough Council’s Pride in Worthing programme and the Worthing Journal’s 100 Cosmetic Improvements campaign.

The Rotary Club said residents had approached volunteers to ask how they could become involved, while Worthing Heritage Alliance also operates a shared events calendar for member groups involved in areas including heritage, history, coastal spaces and green spaces.

Worthing Borough Council launched Pride in Worthing in July as a sustained programme to improve the town centre, working with businesses, community groups and residents. The council plans to invest £175,000 of Community Infrastructure Levy funding between September 2026 and March 2027, with a further £200,000 earmarked for 2027/28 and £500,000 for 2028/29. Work already highlighted by the council includes additional cleansing, refurbished seafront shelters, repainting buildings and progress towards a permanent repair of the storm-damaged pier.

The council has also ordered companies responsible for sections of the Montague Quarter to address cleanliness and problems caused by birds roosting above the shopping precinct. Cayuga Developments was told to clean the paved area between Liverpool Road at TK Maxx and the entrance to Nando’s by Friday 28 August and maintain it weekly. The council said that if the work is not carried out satisfactorily it can appoint contractors and recover the cost using powers under the Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014. Cayuga Developments and St. Clair Developments have also been told to address bird roosting in the sections they own.

Council leader Caroline Baxter said the condition of the privately-owned Montague Quarter was undermining improvements being made elsewhere in the town centre.

Separately, Worthing Journal’s Paul Holden has been encouraging volunteers through his own social media campaign to tidy public areas across Worthing. Holden has been critical of the council’s efforts and has argued that more could be done to improve the town’s appearance, saying public perception plays an important part in local pride and the impression Worthing makes on visitors.

*Picture Credit: Rotary Club Of Tarring Park/Facebook