Plans to build 130 homes on former Crawley school site approved
Plans to build 130 homes on a former school site have been approved by Crawley Borough Council.
The application for the former Thomas Bennett lower school site at the junction of Winchester Road and Anderson Road, Tilgate, was submitted by Kinsted Developments – a Joint Venture Partnership between West Sussex County Council and Lovell Partnerships.
It was given the nod by the planning committee on Wednesday (September 3).
The development will be made up of 54 one, two and three-bedroom flats and 76 two, three and four-bedroom houses. Fifty-three of the new homes will be classed as affordable.
The three blocks of flats and six of the houses will be built on the boundary with K2 athletics track. The impact on residents from noise – particularly starter pistols – and floodlights during the 100 or so events per year held at the track was a concern for the committee.
Grainne Conway (Ref, Ifield) said placing the flats on the boundary would be ‘creating a home that’s going to be a misery for someone to live in’.
But officers advised that the floodlights were due to be replaced and the council was working with K2 to find a way to address both issues.
The council received 14 letters objecting to the plans, with another major concern being road safety – particularly for children heading to Desmond Anderson School and Thomas Bennett Community College – and an increase in the traffic and parking problems which already blight the area.
While the application could not be expected to solve problems which already existed, things such as a raised table at the junction to slow traffic and improve pedestrian crossing were included in the plans.
On top of that, a road safety audit will be carried out before any of the homes can be occupied.
The site was allocated for development in the current and previous Local Plans. But there will be fewer homes than was suggested due to a gas main which runs along the southern boundary and the stream which runs along the east. No development can take place within six metres of either.
To view the application, log on toplanningregister.crawley.gov.uk and search for CR/2025/0006/FUL.