Lancing Village Centre

About Lancing

Lancing has a proud history and is traditionally known as a centre for retreat, care and culture.

The culture of caring continues today with local community groups such as Keep Lancing Lovely and Men in Sheds, spaces such as the Parish Halls, Chesham House and Fabric, and the community spirited businesses on the high street and in the Lancing Business Park.

Lancing has a strong 'village' identity with people experiencing a stronger sense of belonging than in other parts of England. At the same time local people are experiencing more challenges in relation to housing, cost of living and health than in neighbouring areas.

In 2023 to better understand this, a participative programme was delivered to draw up a list of commitments and aspirations to (over time) provide the place, people and environment, interventions that are needed/wanted to create a sustainable impact and benefit to Lancing in the future.

One such intervention is to explore public realm improvements and pedestrianisation which is to be designed to have multiple outcomes including (but not exhaustive) increased places to engage and dwell, increase in property value, reduced vacancy rates, increased dwell time, increased local spend, increased facilities to stay local, improved air quality and biodiversity and reduce the burden on the transport network.

The aspiration for Lancing Public Realm Improvements, being led by Adur District Council is to create a vibrant, green space reflective of a pocket park which creates a space safe for dwelling, improving biodiversity and environmental impacts whilst also providing an opportunity to improve traffic calming and public safety. The scheme will be funded through external resources and will act as a catalyst to deliver wider interventions in the village centre.

Lancing Village Centre Public Realm Improvement scheme objectives:

Establishing a new 'green' destination, arrival zone and meeting point
Alignment and enhancement of routes to create village centre circuits
Ability to design inclusive and welcoming spaces
Improving and enhancing sustainable travel options
Responding to key stakeholders through direct consultation
Improving place activation by providing improved outdoor spaces

Lancing pocket parks scheme

The design sees a significant change in Lancing Village Centre. It builds on the 'need' evidenced in the recent local engagement work, and is formed from community members, businesses and local stakeholders.

The images below show the proposed scheme and highlight the key features:

Making pedestrians the priority: Increasing the public bridleway to improve accessibility and crucially safety both vehicular and a widened public arena.
Enhance connectivity: Regenerating North Farm Road and Penstone Park junctions will improve
east-west connections through the village centre, complementing the existing nodes of public space along North Road.
Activate nodes of public realm: The introduction of new seating and an informal play area will create an inviting atmosphere encouraging residents and visitors to gather and spend more time in the village centre.
Bring nature to urban spaces: The inclusion of new trees and planting beds will bring nature to the residents' doorstep and improve carbon reduction in key locations and community well-being. In addition, the new planting areas will attract new wildlife to the area, improving biodiversity.

The project will deliver support to the local economy through creating a better and more attractive environment for residents, shoppers, businesses and visitors whilst also adhering to carbon reduction objectives.

Images: Penstone Park - current layout, proposed layout and design plan

Penstone Park - current layout

Penstone Park - proposed layout

Penstone Park - proposed layout design plan (with road names)

Images: North Farm Road - current layout, proposed layout and design plan

North Farm Road - current layout

North Farm Road - proposed layout

North Farm Road - proposed layout design plan (with road names)

Lancing pocket parks scheme - have your say ...

Summer 2025 - public consultation

This consultation runs until midnight on Sunday 27th July 2025, you can have your say using the form below:

Lancing pocket parks scheme consultation

The council will also be running pop up events in a number of locations through the village centre in June and July, providing the opportunity for face-to-face feedback. Dates and times will be added here shortly.

What happens next?