Approved redevelopment of Crawley’s former ambulance station site ‘quite amazing’

The application, from TKEI (Crawley) Ltd, was approved at a meeting of the planning committee on Monday (April 26).

Ian Irvine (Lab, Broadfield) described the look of the development as ‘quite amazing’, while Kim Jaggard (Con, Maidenbower) said it was ‘a very attractive development’.

The flats will form a C-shaped block, staggered from three to six storeys with a central courtyard.  It will be made up of two one-bedroom and 37 two-bedroom flats, 12 of which will be classed as affordable.

The meeting was told that the applicant hoped to start work on the site before the end of the year.

The development’s green credentials went down well with the committee. They include two sections of solar panels, six charging points for electric vehicles, space for 36 bicycles, sedum roofing and three green walls.

Only a few areas of concern were raised.

The first was the fact that only 22 parking spaces were included and the potential spill-over into neighbouring roads.

Others centred on the loss of trees, the impact the block would have on residents living nearby, the level of traffic and difficulties turning right from the site.

A report to the committee said the loss of trees was ‘unfortunate’ but added that a ‘significant replanting and ecological enhancement scheme’ had been proposed which would lead to the site having more greenery than before.

The application was approved unanimously.

 To view the applications in full, log on to planningregister.crawley.gov.uk and search for CR/2020/0274/FUL.