North East Sector

With up to 1,900 homes, a primary school, community centre, office and industrial space, retail space and parkland, the town’s 14th neighbourhood will start taking shape this year. Developers Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon Homes have come up with the following plans:

• NE Sector Master Plan
• Planning History
• Design Principles – Phase 1
• Next Steps
• Constraints
• Highway Improvements and Sustainable Transport

What happens next?

The development will take place in four phases. The first phase will include:

• Around 290 new homes (including 40% affordable housing)
• Local centre
• Primary school
• Retail/Shops
• Central parkland
• Community building
• Health Centre
• New roads with junctions off Steers Lane to the north and Crawley Avenue to the south

History of this planning application

Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for Communities, allowed the North East Sector appeal on February 17 2011 and granted outline planning permission for the development.

• Letter from Secretary of State

The planning application for development of land as a new neighbourhood was originally submitted to Crawley Borough Council in 1998. However it was not considered by the Council because the Secretary of State intervened to prevent planning permission being issued.

The situation then changed. George Wimpey and Persimmon Homes appealed the planning application to the Planning Inspectorate on the grounds of non-determination (i.e. because the council had been unable to determine the application).

Due to changed circumstances the Borough Council opposed this development.

A Planning Inspector opened a Public Inquiry into the application on 3 October 2006. The first Public Inquiry closed on 14th November 2006, with the Secretary of State upholding the decision to refuse planning permission. That decision was the subject of an application to the High Court and was subsequently quashed by Order of the Court dated 9 July 2008. The application was therefore to be determined by the Secretary of State resulting in the re-opening of the Public Inquiry which ran from 2nd-26th June 2009. Details of the outcome of this latest Public Inquiry are detailed above.

Further information about the planning application can be found by using the plans search , entering application number: CR/1998/0039/OUT.

Crawley Borough Council is working with: