Haywards Heath shopping centre in line for improvements

While the council’s spending for the coming year was agreed earlier this month, four projects were not quite ready to be included.

That has now changed and, during a meeting of the cabinet on Monday (March 21), it was agreed that they could be added.

The projects are:

• Taking £190,000 from the general reserve to pay for and install a prefabricated pod at the Haywards Heath shopping centre.

The pod will include lavatories for men and women as well as a Changing Places facility for people with disabilities.

The current toilets – which were described as being ‘substandard’ and ‘disgusting’ – will be demolished.

• The appointing of consultants to take forward work on a Centre for Outdoor Sports, in Burgess Hill.

• Paying £692,500 to the Bluebell Railway for an easement to allow access to a new Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG) at Hill Place Farm, East Grinstead.

A SANG acts as a buffer zone around Special Protection Areas (SPA) – in this case the Ashdown Forest SPA – to attract people away from them.

Planning permission for 200 homes at Hill Place was granted on appeal and includes the provision of a SANG.

A report to the meeting said the  £692,500 was expected to be recovered from developers within five years.

• And finally, £50,000 will be taken from the general reserve for the refurbishment of Hickman’s Lane Pavilion, in Lindfield.

The work will include a revamp of the function room and team changing room as well as a dormer roof conversion.

A report to the cabinet said that, in principle, £150,000 of funding from the Football Association had been agreed, with another £54,929 coming from Section 106 contributions.

Leader Jonathan Ash-Edwards said the inclusion of the four schemes in the corporate plan was ‘a good example of us bringing forward projects that really matter to our local communities’.

He represents Lindfield and was particularly pleased to see the pavilion work put forward.

Speaking after the meeting, he added: “The Hickmans Lane pavilion is a really well-used community facility in the heart of Lindfield, but we know it’s not fit for purpose.

“These improvements will help the building better meet the needs of the many groups who use it and ensure the recreation ground can continue to be a great location for sports for the village.

“I look forward to the FA confirming their funding allocation and these works being able to go ahead.”

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