Southway Junior School pupil picks name for development on site of former pub in Burgess Hill

Isla Adams, who chose the name Fairfield View in the school contest, visited the Royal George Road site on Wednesday (May 5) with her friend Zuzia Cytowicz and head teacher Peter Newbold.

They met with construction and commercial director James Chase and construction manager Ben Hoad.

“We’re new to Sussex,” said Ben, adding that Earlswood Homes is normally based in Surrey and London and that Fairfield View is its ‘flagship development’ in Burgess Hill.

He said Earlswood Homes wanted to make a positive impact in the community and let a local person choose the name of the development.

The company also aims to change the image of construction, Ben said, by inviting young people to see the work being done.

“Maybe one day we could encourage someone to become a site manager,” he said.

The Weald Inn closed in February last year to the dismay of its regulars after owner Greene King said it had made the ‘difficult decision that it was no longer a viable long-term prospect’.

Maggie Size, a staff member, set up an online petition to save the pub and residents put in an application to have it listed as an Asset of Community Value.

Councillor Samantha Smith (Dunstall ward) and councillor Peter Chapman (Victoria ward) supported residents but an application to knock the pub down and build ten new homes in its place was approved by Mid Sussex District Council’s planning committee on November 12, 2020.