Work To Begin On Burgess Hill Outdoor Sports Centre

Work on the Burgess Hill Centre for Outdoor Sport should start this month after being given the final thumbs-up by Mid Sussex District Council.

Outline planning permission for the nine-hectare Centre, which forms part of the Brookleigh (Northern Arc) development, was given in 2019.

And, during a meeting of the planning committee on Thursday (March 7) members approved the appearance, layout, access, landscaping and scale of the development.

The multi-million pound Centre will sit between the A273 and Gatehouse Lane, with access off of the Western Link Road.

It will be made up of two 3G pitches – one for football, one for rugby – and four grass football pitches for adults, under 9s and under 14s, which will be overlapped by a cricket pitch.

There will also be a pavilion made up of a reception, changing rooms and public toilets.

And the Green Circle – a shared pedestrian/cycle/equestrian route – will pass through the site.

Plans to include athletics facilities in the Centre were dropped as it was felt that there was not space for ‘anything meaningful’.

In addition, officers said the athletics governing body felt there was no need for another track and raised concerns that it would draw people away from existing facilities.

A number of concerns about what the Centre will – and will not – offer were shared.

Lucie Venables, representing Burgess Hill Hockey Club and St Francis Hockey Club said the clubs were ‘concerned and disappointed’ that, despite years of speaking to the council, the Centre did not include a pitch suitable for hockey.

Declaring the Centre to be ‘no longer focussed on sports but mostly football’, she asked for one of the 3G pitches to be changed to multi-surface suitable for both football and hockey.

Ms Venables told the meeting that there was a shortage of hockey pitches in the area and that her club was having to turn away children keen to play, because they don’t have enough facilities.

No changes were made.

There was also an objection from Sport England – which said the cricket provision was ‘not well designed or fit for purpose’.

It was a point echoed by the England & Wales Cricket Board, which described the facilities as representing ‘the bare minimum provision for cricket’.

The loss of 22 healthy oak trees to make way for the Centre was described as ‘extremely regrettable’ by the council’s tree officer.

The officer said they would expect to see ‘large numbers’ of English oak planted to replace them, rather than just the Spanish oak which were being proposed.

The Centre will include 104 parking spaces, two for electric vehicles and the pavilion will be open until 10pm.

The grass pitches will only be used on Saturday and Sunday mornings while the 3G pitches will be used throughout the year and are floodlit so can stay open into the evenings.

The meeting was told that it was hoped that work would start this month, with the 3G pitches and pavilion scheduled to be complete by the end of the year.

To view the application, log on to  pa.midsussex.gov.uk and search for DM/23/3182.