Morrisons could be built at shopping centre site

Plans to build a Morrisons supermarket at an aging shopping centre site in East Sussex will go before councillors for approval next week.

A revamped proposal to redevelop the Meridian Centre site in Peacehaven has been submitted to Lewes District Council, and will be debated by the authority's planning committee next week.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the new proposal makes some changes to previous plans which had been approved in 2023, including a smaller supermarket building.

The construction of a new library building no longer features in the proposal, while planned renovations to the Community House centre will be smaller in scale.

In a report to the planning committee, officers say that part of the existing building will see some renovations.

A spokesman for the library service said East Sussex County Council "welcomes the principle of retaining library provision" in a central part of Peacehaven and "recognises the wider benefits of regeneration at the Meridian Centre".

However, they said that further information was needed before the council could "determine whether the existing building represents a suitable long-term solution".

While Morrisons received a planning resolution from the council to redevelop the Meridian Centre site in 2023, the development was paused before formal planning approval was granted.

This angered locals who said they were struggling without a major supermarket, having lost the Co-op in January 2024.

According to the committee report, the council received 119 letters of support and 16 objections.

The proposal will be discussed on 7 October.

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