Fears over plans to build an 80-bedroom hotel next to block of flats

A planning application has been submitted to Mid Sussex District Council for planning permission to build an 80-bedroom Premier Inn and restaurant in Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath.

But residents of nearby Clair Court are concerned about the proposals which, they say, they were not made aware of ‘until the last minute.’

They fear the new hotel will spoil the look of the area and that there are insufficient parking spaces which would increase traffic problems.

The site is currently used as a two-storey office block and occupied by London Colonial Services.

Clair Court residents’ spokesman Alex Greig said that the site was “fundamentally not fit for purpose and we accept it needs to be redeveloped in some shape or form.”

But, he added: “We are not Nimbys, we appreciate the need to develop the site and make it more suitable but there has been absolutely no publicity and something like this, on a strategic site, needs to get feedback from the public. It is bang next door to residential properties, including Clair Court.”

Residents, he said, felt that proposals to include just 26 parking spaces for an 80-bedroom hotel were insufficient. “It will exacerbate an already-existing parking problem in Haywards Heath.”