Firstly Cyrano, TA and Groundhog totally agree with you all.
This is built on a classic mistake(sorry GH no offence intended). They have looked at what routes are not operated at LGW and said we will start that from Shoreham. The problem is they have not gone on to ask the key question of why is there not a route from LGW.
There is a lack of knowledge especially in respect of Eurostar what about Ebbsfleet close to the M25 and Ashford connected by train to Brighton.
However having these plans bought to the attention of this forum could be a way of testing the proposal out. It saves a lot on consultants fees(sorry TA).
XT