LETTER: Revitalising the town centre

Residents were consulted widely on the future of Queens Square, both on what they wanted to see in a redeveloped square and their favoured design from various options.

These residents’ consultations were well supported and gave the council lots of information and ideas to feed in throughout the design process.

The £3.2m to pay for this project is coming from Crawley Borough Council, West Sussex County Council and Coast2Capital Local Enterprise Partnership.

I am looking forward to seeing work start in Queens Square on 5 September. The area will be transformed into a high quality, distinctive, adaptable and enjoyable public space.

This will in turn encourage neighbouring landowners and businesses to invest more in the area, acting as a catalyst for wider regeneration. We are already seeing quite a few buildings having their exteriors refurbished – this is happening as a direct result of our activity in the town centre.

The work in Queens Square includes new high quality paving, new and improved lighting, new seating, new street furniture, new planting and a central focal point including an attractive plaza and decorative water feature.

Another major scheme is The Arora Group’s privately funded redevelopment of Station Gateway.

This huge regeneration scheme, which has planning permission in principle, will see Crawley get a new railway station, the demolition of the eyesore that is Overline House and 308 flats in three blocks. We’re also looking to redevelop the public space around this area, including the bus station.

We’re determined to revitalise the town centre and these major regeneration schemes will make a positive difference to the whole area, as well as encouraging and attracting additional investment in Crawley town centre.

For more information, with regular updates, on town centre regeneration visit www.regeneratingcrawley.org.uk

Cllr Peter Smith

Cabinet member for Planning and Economic Development, Crawley Borough Council

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