Letter from MSDC

Dear All

You may be aware, having received a letter
from MSDC or from the press,that Urban Initiatives
have recommended to MSDC and Thornfield Properties

"to amend the masterplan so that the residential
properties in Station Road and Queens Crescent
are no longer shown to be within an area where
redevelopment is to be encouraged".

This, of course is good news for those of us who
were against the scale of the proposed development,
especially where it may have directly impacted
our properties and amenities. We are grateful to
Urban Initiatives for having taken note of the
responses received during the consultation process
and applaud them for making this recommendation.

However, we feel it wise to remain aware that, at
this stage, it is only a recommendation. MSDC, and
their partner, Thornfield Properties, have, to our
knowledge, yet to make a decision and amend the
proposed masterplan(s).

Our response to the news should be one of cautious
optimism. We need to have confirmation from MSDC
that the recommended changes have actually been
applied before celebrating. We are endeavouring
to have this confirmed as soon as possible, but may
need to wait until revised plans are drawn up for an
exhibition that we are told will be presented by
the Council and Thornfield in September.

Although the recommendation is to remove the
residential properties from the scope of the
development plans, we have no information as yet
about possible changes to other aspects of the
scheme, if any. We have not been informed of any
recommendations relating to the northern side of
Station Road or for the station area, specifically
for Queens Crescent Park, one of the few remaining
areas of natural green space in the town.

Our position continues to be that, while we agree
that the town centre needs to be re-generated and
that the station needs to be re-developed to become
a transport hub for the town, these objectives can
be achieved without impacting the visual amenities
of properties on Station Road and within the
footprint of land currently available in the station
area.

Thank you for your support to date; we would
ask that you make local councillors aware of the
need to implement Urban Initiatives' recommendations
and of the desire to reduce the impact of the amended
masterplans upon visual amenities and natural
green spaces.

We will continue to keep you informed.
Burgess Hill Blog Team