76 new homes on old school site welcomed
Building work has begun on 76 new homes at a former school site in Furnace Green after West Sussex County Council completed sale of the land.
The homes, which are being built where the old Robert May School and the North East Area Proffessional Centre on Furnace Drive used to be, will comprise of 31 affordable dwellings.
There will also be amenity space, landscaping, roads and new pedestrian cycle routes. The county council sold the land a few months ago to Barratt Homes which is developing the site.
Residents took to the Observer’s Facebook page to welcome the news, stressing that new homes were much needed in the town and it was a good use of ‘wasted land’. Paul Clark said: “Think it’s a good move as (we) need more house’s in Crawley.”
Chris Champion said: “It’s the only way Crawley can even get close to its housing quota, at least it’s a brownfield site and some should be affordable housing.”
Claire Stephens added: “I think it’s a good use of an unused site which is otherwise just wasted land.”
The county council notified nearby residents about the proposals in 2010 and concerns were raised about traffic, parking, privacy and the effect on woodland and wildlife.
The plans were agreed by Crawley Borough Council in 2010 but the sale of the land was only completed at the end of last year.
The former school building was the victim of an arson attack in June last year. The old building has now been demolished.
Lynnette St-Quintin, sales director for Barratt Homes Southern, said:: “We are proud to be bringing Foundry Place, a collection of 76 new three and four-bedroom homes, to the market.
“We would like to thank the residents living close to the site for their support and look forward to seeing the new homes benefit the wider community.
“As a developer we aim to create communities where people aspire to live, which fit into the local vernacular, and this is only possible through interacting with local people.”
“We are committed to working with the existing neighbourhood throughout the build process and will continue to engage with all local stakeholders as the development progresses.”
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Weather for Crawley
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 5 C to 16 C
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