A chance enquiry before Christmas has plunged Worthing Borough Council into conflict with its residents. And the outcome of this protest may signal the future of regional support for the arts in England.
Unless you are an enthusiast, it is more likely that Worthing will evoke only snippets of history. Fleeting facts like – it was first cited in the Domesday Book when it had a population of 22, and George III sent his daughter Amelia there (for the waters of course), whilst her more boisterous brother went to Brighton. Percy Bysshe Shelley also had his first two works printed there, and Oscar Wilde wrote The Importance of Being Earnest in Worthing.
