Plans afoot for old Lec site

Sime Darby intends to reveal its proposals for the former Lec factory along Shripney Road.

The site has been closed since December 2003.

It covers ten acres and includes the original factory when fridges and freezers first began to be made there in the late 1940s.

The products went around Great Britain and Europe to make Lec Refrigeration the second biggest domestic fridge and freezer maker.

But the rising tide of cheaper imports took their toll in the past decade. Tens of millions of pounds were pumped into the business by Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby.

This, though, ultimately failed to provide a long-term future for a firm which had employed up to 1,500 people.

The empty buildings, opposite an out of town retail park, provide an unattractive gateway to Bognor along one of its main roads.

Sime Darby has been working with Arun District Council to provide a development brief to outline the future uses for the land.

Bognor Regis regeneration task force co-ordinator Richard McMann said: 'The aim is to produce the first draft imminently of what Sime Darby thinks will work on that site.

'They want to ask the public as well so that people have the chance to say what they would like to see on that site.

'The intention has been to see what difference the future use of that site will make to Bognor.

'Some of the proposals I would expect to see loved. Some of them people will not want to see there.'

He did not reveal any details but he did say that one of the potential uses was likely to be start-up accommodation for new businesses.

It was also likely to feature space for small companies looking to grow.

West Sussex County Council last year included the former factory as a potential waste transfer location. This provoked protests from residents and the district council.

Mr McMann has praised Sime Darby for its willingness to co-operate with Arun to ensure the land benefits the wider community as well as the company.

The site is only the southern section of the large location occupied by Lec.

Much of the northern portion of modern buildings has been occupied by neighbouring John Wiley and Son to cater for its growing book distribution business in Bognor.