Residents Unhappy After Town Spends £178,000 On Wiggly White Lines

Residents have slated their town's efforts to create a pedestrianised zone as a 'waste of money' with a 'tacky' design.

The council in Worthing, west Sussex, are aiming to keep their promise of making the town carbon neutral by 2030 and as part of the efforts to reach that goal, they have spent £178,000 on a scheme to make the town centre car free and a nicer place to visit, as reported by Metro.

Hopes that the scheme would create an 'attractive outdoor meeting space' have fallen flat as residents are unimpressed that part of the pedestrianisation plans include huge wiggly white lines painted all over the town centre.

The idea was that by making the town centre a car free zone it would allow cafes and restaurants to have more outdoor seating, while the space created would feature more greenery and pleasant plants.

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Many residents of Worthing don't see it that way, with some instead wondering who thought it was a good idea to paint wiggly white lines all over the ground and whether it was money well spent.

One resident said it was a 'waste of money and silly design', and also complained that taking away disabled parking spaces from the town centre would cost businesses.

Another said the lines looked like an 'absolute mess' that looked more 'like a kid has been let loose' than anything else.

However, others could see the funny side as one said it was 'very thoughtful of the council' to paint squiggly lines on the ground and make all the drunks in the town think they were walking in a straight line.

Adur and Worthing council have explained that the money for painting the squiggly lines came from government grants to boost the regeneration of high streets.

They said: "The pedestrianisation of Montague Place has cost £178,000, of which £23,500 was full technical scheme design and management fees.

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"This was fully funded by the high street grants provided by the government to the Borough Council in response to the re-opening of the high street following the lifting of restrictions.

"The costs of the decorative white lining were £1,230, which included the cost of material and installation."

A spokesman for the council told The Argus that the plans to brighten up the town were a temporary measure to pave the way for making the town centre permanently car free and they would be asking residents what they wanted to see in the long term.