'Temporary'ad hoardings set to go ... after 104 years!

Ugly advertisement hoardings were erected in Devonshire Square to fill the gap left when the old railway station which fronted what was then "Station Square" was replaced with the new station in Sea Road.

That was in 1902.

Yesterday, Rother planning committee was due to receive a recommendation from chief planning officer Frank Rallings to grant planning permission for Rother to replace the hoardings and white picket fence with a new boundary screen.

The proposal is designed to complement the conversion of Devonshire Square into a piazza.

The prominent hoardings are visible from as far away as Marina. In their place would be built a high brick wall with a plinth.

Mr Rallings says: "The remainder of the proposed new boundary treatment would be constructed as a series of cast iron ornamental archways with toughened glass panels between the columns.

"The top of the archways would be finished in painted timber to reflects the canopy entrances of the station itself."

Network Rail is offering no objection in principle. South Central generally supports the proposal.