Shopping centre one of two investment zones Mid Sussex District Council is looking to set up in Burgess Hill

The bids for the Martlets Shopping Centre site and the science and technology park site west of the town will be sent to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing & Communities.

Leader Jonathan Ash-Edwards said: “It is common knowledge that delivery of the town centre regeneration has been badly hit by the pandemic and changes in retail habits, but we are determined to explore all options to help the private sector deliver it. “If the council’s bid is successful, the new zones will offer tax breaks to make the sites more attractive to retail and other businesses.”

The bids were discussed during a meeting of the full council on Wednesday (October 13) where a number of concerns were raised by opposition councillors.

Top of the list was the fact that the zones would operate under a simplified planning process with fewer regulations and restrictions.

Alison Bennett (Lib Dem, Hurstpierpoint & Downs) urged the council to ‘proceed with caution’ saying she found it ‘hugely concerning’ that ‘so little is known about what the investment zones will actually mean’.

Matthew Cornish (Green, Burgess Hill – St Andrews) said reducing planning controls and environmental restrictions went against what the council was trying to achieve with its sustainability and environmental policy.

Declaring that relaxing such controls would be a ‘disaster for the future of our town’, he added: “It’s good to be at the table but we do not want any reduction in environmental restrictions or regulations.”

Mr Ash-Edwards told the meeting that it was important to be led by evidence and facts ‘rather than by the letters page of the Guardian’.

He acknowledged that the government wanted to streamline some of the processes involved but added: “What we’re talking about are very tightly defined sites that already have planning support from this council.

“We are not talking about picking unknown sites out of thin air.

“This is about accelerating the delivery and making more attractive to businesses sites that this council has already given planning support.”

The Martlets site was demolished to make way for a redevelopment by New River, which repeatedly stalled despite being granted planning permission in 2016 and then again in 2020.

And the science and technology site, on land north of the A2300, is included in the Local Plan.

Mr Ash-Edwards said: “Clearly, as the details emerge, we will consider very carefully at every stage – as we always do with these kinds of projects – whether they are going in the right direction and delivering what we need.

“If we find that they’re not, then we’ll not pursue it any further.”

There was a moment of testiness when Anne Eves (Green, Burgess Hill – Leylands) asked if he could guarantee that he wasn’t going to ‘throw out all planning rules or ‘slash all standards’ when it came to the two zones.

To cried of ‘hear hear’ from some, Mr Ash-Edwards asked: “Do Burgess Hill members want to see investment in the town centre or not?

“It’s not always clear.”