Prospect of 700 new jobs

PLANS for a new Maresfield business park, capable of providing up to 700 jobs, have received the backing of East Sussex County Council.

Members of the county s planning and highways sub-committee last week strongly supported the outline application for a business park at the old Maresfield Camp.

Up to 20,000 square metres of land to the west of the A22 and south of the A272 would be used for light industrial and office use. A new roundabout access to the A272 is proposed along with internal access roads, pedestrian and cycle ways and bus access.

Woodland within the site would be kept and managed.

Some of the army buildings from the old camp remain on the site as part of the Fire Training Centre for the East Sussex Fire Brigade. This centre would remain within the business park.

An established permanent site for gipsy caravans is situated on the western boundary of the site.

County council planning officer Graham Arr-Jones said the Maresfield Camp site could provide 600 to 700 jobs depending on the nature and employment density of occupying companies.

He said: This would be on the basis that the majority of occupants would be manufacturing companies with a requirment for some office accommodation.

Members welcomed the application subject to a number of issues, including road concerns, being resolved to the satisfaction of the district council.

Mr Arr-Jones added: The application site is a brownfield site that has been identified for employment use for some considerable time.

The site is close to Uckfield where available employment land is in short supply and which in structure plan policy is a low weald town likely to take some additional housing between 2006 and 2011.

The county council is one of three landowners of the application site, the others being Wealden District Council and Summerthorne Estates.

The application will go before district planners on October 18.