EAST WORTHING and Shoreham
MP Tim Loughton used a
breakfast briefing to the Worthing
and Adur Chamber of Commerce
at Shoreham Airport to call for the
roll-out of open access public wi-fi
across Worthing.
He was given unanimous
support for the campaign by all
the chamber members present.
The MP had been invited to
give a talk on the Government’s
economic growth programme, the
latest developments with the A27
upgrade and the EU Referendum
Bill.
He gave a rundown of how the
local economy was faring well
compared with the rest of the
country with unemployment in
the South East now standing at
4.1 per cent compared with 5.5 per
cent nationally.
Mr Loughton praised the
dramatic fall in those local
young people not in education,
employment or training which
in 2010 stood at 490 but is just 110
today.
He said: “While there is
still a long way to go with the
national economic recovery, local
businesses are doing particularly
well and unemployment rates are
very reassuring, especially among
young people.
“Our local business parks are in
a particularly healthy state with
Lancing Business Park, the second
largest in West Sussex, almost at
capacity.
“While we cannot be
complacent, it is clear that
businesses see Adur and Worthing
as a good place to invest and the
changes to the A27 can only help
that appeal.
“I have been impressed by the
determination of senior council
officers and councillors to drive
forward a technology revolution
which must include rolling out
public access wi-fi as rapidly as
possible.
“I will be speaking to both the
chief executive and the leader of
the council to see how quickly we
can make Worthing one of the
first public wi-fi accessible towns
in the UK.”