RESIDENTS have said the closure of their only central supermarket will leave “another hole in the town” and new calls have been made for investment.

The Co-op in Newhaven Square will be closing down next month as part of an “ongoing store review process” and we can reveal the store is now confirmed as moving half a mile away to the site of the derelict Harbourside Inn in Fort Road.

Many, including the area’s Member of Parliament, have voiced their concerns for the town centre.

Geraldine Novell, 69, has lived in Marshall Lane, Newhaven, for more than 20 years.

She said: “A place that was once thriving is now dying. It’s a shame Newhaven is going to rack and ruin.”

A worker in the PDSA charity shop in Newhaven Square said: “It’s another hole in the town. There’s nothing bringing people into the centre so no one’s going to open a shop.”

Another resident of 50 years, who asked not to be named, added: “With the ring road going around it, the town centre’s just isolated.”

The news of Co-op's departure comes amid The Argus's Seafront 2020 campaign calling for a joined up strategy to ensure the sustained success of our coastal communities.

MP Maria Caulfield said: “I am very committed to Newhaven and reversing the decades-long lack of investment and the impact of the ring road, which effectively cut off the centre of the town.

“I have been in touch with the Co-op following the announcement. The new store will be smaller but it will stay in Newhaven and in its new location parking could be easier than at present.

“I have pressed the council to lower parking charges. When they did this at Christmas, the town centre was bustling.”

Mrs Caulfield also said she was happy to work with the local Chamber of Commerce, to encourage businesses to take on the site.

Paul Boswell, secretary for Newhaven Chamber of Commerce, previously told The Argus it was a “terrible blow” for the town centre.

He added: “Only recently we lost our last bank, now our only supermarket is going.

“The chamber will do what it can to encourage a retailer to take on this premises, but it will be an uphill struggle to put it mildly.”

In 2014 the last bank, a HSBC, shut down because it was no longer deemed commercially viable.

Lewes District Council has said Newhaven remains an extremely high priority for regeneration and pointed to a Government Enterprise Zone due to start in April 2017.

A spokesman for The Co-operative Group confirmed the shop will close on February 24 with a new store to open in Fort Road the following day.

He said: “The decision to close the Newhaven Square store has been made as part of our ongoing store review process and is in no way a reflection on the hard work and commitment from the 30 colleagues working at the store.”

A GLOOMY OUTLOOK FOR SHOPPERS WHO WILL SOON BE LEFT STRANDED

EVEN when the sun breaks through the clouds, it does not really shine on the central shopping precinct of Newhaven.

The sky is heavy.  So heavy, it could be sulking.  Or perhaps, like the town’s residents, it is mourning.

Serving about 12,000 people, it is hard to believe the last supermarket in Newhaven’s town centre will close for good on February 24.

Increasingly confronted with boarded-up shop fronts, locals are in disbelief over the closure of the Co-operative supermarket and fear it will leave their streets even emptier.

The lack of energy and bareness of the empty buildings in the town’s shopping centre, encircled by a busy ring road, paint an unfortunate picture.

Even in mid-afternoon there are very few people pottering about.

One of them, Trish Maher, has lived in Newhaven for four years and uses a mobility scooter to get around and do her shopping.

The 72-year-old said: “It’s just another nail in the coffin. The Co-op moving from here will mean people do not go out any more. It is very sad for the elderly people and those who can’t get around as easily.”

The decision to close the shop and move it half a mile south to the former Harbourside Inn site in Fort Road looks set to suck more people away from the centre. Businesses spoke of their concern that it will put livelihoods in the once-buoyant seaside town in danger.

A worker in the PDSA charity shop in Newhaven Square said: “It’s another hole in the town. There’s nothing bringing people into the centre so no one’s going to open a shop.”

The quiet streets urgently need a revival – something Lewes District Council, which presides over the area, has acknowledged by pushing for a Government Enterprise Zone.

Geraldine Novell, 69, has lived in Marshall Lane for more than 20 years.

She said: “A place that was once thriving is now dying. We don’t want it to shut down because it’s the only thing we’ve got now. It’s a shame Newhaven is going to rack and ruin. I hate change.”

Despite this, she added: “I’d neither leave for love nor money.”

Newhaven has seen decline since the end of the Second World War when the maritime and rail freight trade began to drop off, with the goods sidings at Newhaven Harbour Station closing in 1968 and the railway wharf being shut in 1996.

And do not even mention the incinerator, which means rubbish shipped in from six local councils to be burnt in the town. It still rankles with locals.

A 73-year-old who has lived in Newhaven her whole life and, who asked not to be named, said: “It’s very sad. I know I’m going back a long time but Newhaven used to be full of shops. We have a nice library and a post office but nothing very much. It’s quite a disaster.”

The desolate town cannot help but be nostalgic over promises of a “world-leading” leisure centre and water park that evaporated in 2012, as reported in The Argus at the time, while 30 Co-op employees stand to lose their jobs if they are not relocated.

Paul Boswell, secretary for Newhaven Chamber of Commerce, said: “It is a vicious circle. Fewer shops means we have less footfall, less footfall means fewer shops and so it goes on. This will make it very difficult for our remaining shops to make a living.

“The chamber will do what it can to encourage a retailer to take on this premises, but it will be an uphill struggle to put it mildly.”

Chloe Skinner, 25, has lived in Newhaven most of her life and was shopping in the town centre when she spoke to The Argus.

“It’s only going to get worse. There are only a few remaining shops and we have no banks at all,” she said, referring to the HSBC closure of 2014. “For those we have to go to Seaford or Peacehaven.”.

“Now we have no proper food shops in the town centre at all. It’s just taking the area down even further.”

Douglas Moore, of Lewes Road, would like Brighton and Hove Buses to run a more frequent service through Newhaven to help older people get across the river to the bigger supermarkets on the east side of town.

The 83-year-old said: “If it’s snowing or raining, it’s going to be a hell of a game for a lot of old people to get their food.”

His MP Maria Caulfield said she moved her office into Newhaven after she was elected to help give the town a lift. “Newhaven is a place with such great potential,” she added.

Along with the council, Mrs Caulfield highlighted the emerging University Technical College which opened last September, the jobs created by the Rampion offshore windfarm and the Enterprise Zone lined up to boost jobs and business.

The very fact this Enterprise Zone is earmarked for a town centre is unusual in itself – and shows just how much the local authorities acknowledge its decline.

It is not going to kick in until April 2017 and even then it will take time to bear fruit.

For those living and working in Newhaven, though, it cannot come soon enough.

£80M TO REVIVE FORTUNES BY 2020

BETWEEN now and 2020, more than £80 million is being invested in Newhaven and Green chutes green shoots are already appearing.

The town has a new University Technical College (UTC@harbourside), which opened in September and is increasing its intake of students this year.

In addition, earlier this month, a new-build combined fire station, police hub and council contact office opened in Meeching Road.

At the end of last year the Transmanche ferry service running between Newhaven and Dieppe was granted a two-year extension after fears it could be axed. 

Traders said it was the key to redeveloping the town and turning around years of decline.

And Newhaven Fort, used in the Second World War, is popular as a heritage attraction.

Looking ahead, the town will be the operating base for the £1.3 billion Rampion offshore windfarm, which could create up to 65 full-time permanent jobs.

A £9 million investment has also been secured to reduce flood risk with a planning application to be submitted soon and another growth project worth £2.5 million aims to develop “clean tech” industries and the Newhaven Enterprise Centre on Denton Island.

A spokeswoman for Lewes District Council said a Government Enterprise Zone will boost trade.

She said: “We believe there are many opportunities to regenerate and improve the town centre. We are already in discussions with landowners and investors about creating new employment sites.”

Eight key sites in Newhaven will benefit from the special designation with the aim of unlocking them for high-value development and supporting the expansion of existing businesses.

The sites will benefit from economic incentives and relaxed planning rules in favour of employment-related activities, creating new entrepreneurial opportunities for people.