Whilst I am delighted for the 55 towns which have received an allocation of £20 million in levelling up investment through the Long-Term Plan for Towns, including Hastings and Bexhill-on-Sea in Sussex, I am and remain extremely frustrated Burgess Hill, a town providing 3,500 new homes alongside Homes England, has yet again been overlooked when my constituents and businesses are equally deserving of key support. The town centre is a stalled shopping centre redevelopment, and it is also harbouring several hundred undelivered brownfield homes due to the lack of unlocking Government funds which could unleash further private investment. We have a fully rounded District Plan and have always sought to deliver on our housing need however, Homes England are only able to assist us with greenfield development and not this town centre project. For example, they are unlocking a smaller greenfield project at Hurst Farm in nearby Haywards Heath.
The ranking of local authorities by Levelling Up Need was developed in accordance with the Levelling Up White Paper which combines four metrics relevant to understanding place performance. These are: NVQ Level 3+ (% of total population), healthy life expectancy, median gross weekly pay (£) and gross value added (GVA) per hour worked. Whilst I fully acknowledge a system for assessment must exist, these metrics keep throwing up the same type of towns.
My real and deep concern is that Sussex market towns such as Burgess Hill, will keep being overlooked, having put in highly commended and well supported but unsuccessful bids in both previous Levelling Up Funding rounds, if the same methodology is used. Our District Council has indicated it feels that there is very little point in making future applications and the current allocations show that it is easier to obtain multiple allocations rather than one at all.
The ongoing poor state of Burgess Hill town centre means it is unfit for the town’s growing population, which is already above 32,000 with its drastically reduced footfall and leakage of local spend to other nearby towns, areas and online. Its underperformance is unacceptable and does not reflect the passion and effort local businesses have undertaken to try to keep it viable. The previous Levelling Up Funding bids reflected a scheme which had planning permission, was the subject of public consultation and had wide levels of support. This means the outcome of both previous applications was even more disappointing.
Funding to support a much needed and deserved redevelopment of the area would:
- Unlock matching private sector investment of £19m and create land value uplift of £18.8m;
- Create 25,000sqm of new commercial floorspace on a currently poorly performing town centre;
- Create over 1,000 new jobs and a 15% model shift towards sustainable travel;
- Deliver an innovative digital hub within the new development that would leverage the £10m already invested in full fibre connectivity within Mid Sussex;
- Provide 172 new homes.
This 2.5ha brownfield site has high vacancy rates and has seen a significant decline in trading performance. The town centre regeneration scheme has been unviable for many years because of changing retail trends and the pandemic.
However, a successful bid or funding allocation would transform the site within 24 months, creating a sustainable, modern town centre reflecting community needs, creating new jobs, homes and commercial floorspace and instilling pride of place.
I have requested to meet with Jacob Young MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Levelling Up, to understand future methodology and gap analysis, and to discuss how further funds can be looked at to make this difference to our positive and growing Burgess Hill community, who are richly deserving of more support to thrive even further and are providing the homes we need and need the infrastructure to support it.