Worthing Borough Council to seek developer for Decoy Farm
Released: Friday, 06 March 2026
We are going to put Decoy Farm on the market to find a developer to bring the long-derelict site back into productive use.
The vacant site, adjacent to East Worthing Trading Estate, was a landfill site in the 1970s and remained unused for decades because of contamination.
More than 40 years later, following extensive clean-up work, it represents the last large brownfield site in the borough available to provide significant employment space.
Our priority is to bring the site back into use to create jobs for local people and bring the greatest benefit to the community. We expect to appoint commercial property agents in the coming months to market the site and begin the formal process of inviting bids.
Decoy Farm was made safe and fit for development in 2020 after we secured around £5m of government funding for the project. This included clearing and levelling the site, recovering materials and capping the landfill with clay.
We secured planning permission to create a modern business park on the 7.7 hectares of land - the equivalent of around a dozen full-size football pitches. That planning permission is still valid, so a developer could buy the site and move ahead with the agreed proposal almost immediately. It's hoped that such a project would attract new businesses to move to Worthing and create hundreds of new jobs.
However, we will also consider proposals from potential buyers who may wish to refine the existing planning permission or put forward alternative ideas for how the site could be used, provided they meet local planning policy and deliver clear benefits for Worthing.
We had originally intended to either develop the site ourselves or partner with a business to create a new industrial estate. However, rising construction costs and increased pressure on our finances mean we consider the best option is now to sell Decoy Farm to a developer.
Councillor Sophie Cox, leader of Worthing Borough Council, said:
“Decoy Farm has been a challenge for Worthing for more than 40 years. The council has worked hard to prepare this difficult brownfield site for development, turning what was once contaminated landfill into a real opportunity for jobs and investment.
“Our focus now is on finding the right partner to bring forward a practical, deliverable scheme that creates jobs, supports our local economy and makes the best use of one of the last major employment sites in the borough.”
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Photo: Decoy Farm, Worthing
(PR26-028)
Page last updated: 06 March 2026