Martlets Shopping Centre redevelopment: amendments to consented plan for Burgess Hill ‘increases amount of retail space’
Amendments to the consented plan to redevelop the Martlets Shopping Centre in Burgess Hill have been submitted.
Mid Sussex District Council (MSDC) received a new application in May from New River Retail (GP3) Limited and the District Council for the variation of conditions 6, 21 and 29 relating to the redevelopment planning application (DM/19/3331).
The new application said: “This S73 application seeks to amend the approved drawings to improve the viability and deliverability of the scheme. The affected Conditions to be amended include: Condition 6 – Detailed drawings, Condition 21 – Public highway modifications to be in general accordance with drawing 14091-012 rev C, Condition 29 – Approved plans.”
It said the proposals for changing these conditions are to ‘reflect updated plan references and remove reference to the Green Wall to accord with the revised scheme’.
MSDC leader Robert Eggleston (Liberal Democrat) called the application ‘a key milestone in the delivery of the redevelopment of the Martlets Shopping Centre’ in a post to his ‘Take back the town – Burgess Hill’ campaign page on Facebook.
He explained that in September 2024 MSDC agreed Cabinet recommendations to negotiate a 50:50 Joint Venture (JV) with New River Retail. He said this proposed JV was viewed as ‘the only way to unlock a difficult redevelopment project’ due to market conditions on high streets.
Mr Eggleston said: “The scheme has to be commercially viable for New River and MSDC. To this end it was anticipated that some amendments to the consented plan would be proposed. These have now been submitted by New River under DM/25/1327.”
He said: “There will be a period of statutory consultation before the application is considered by the District Planning Committee in the late summer.”
Mr Eggleston hailed the new application as ‘a sign of progress’ and said people can view it at pa.midsussex.gov.uk/online-applications.
People can also view the Design and Access Addendum by Corstorphine & Wright Architects. Its summary says the revised proposal includes: 13,704 square metres of C3 residential space with 172 units (106 one bedroom and 66 two-bedroom), a 1,189 square metre cinema (previously 8,991 square metres), a 392 square metre bowling alley (previously 2,013), and a 697 square metre gym (barlely reduced from the previous 698 square metre proposal).
Mr Eggleston said the proposed amendments will increase the amount of retail space while retaining space for smaller, independent businesses. But he said it would have a lower leisure element ‘which reflects the fact that multiplexes are not in demand’. He said: “There is, as a consequence, of the reduced leisure content an open town square providing a mix of green space and opportunities for pop up events. Two anchor tenants of size (supermarket and hotel) are included in the Design and Access Addendum with a mix of other units for retail and F and B.”