Business park plan

PLANS for a new Maresfield business park capable of providing up to 700 jobs have received the backing of East Sussex County Council.

Members of the county s planning and highways sub-committee last week strongly supported the outline application for a business park to be built on the grounds of the old Maresfield Camp.

Up to 20,000 square metres of land to the west of the A22 and south of the A272 would be used for light industrial and office use. A new roundabout access to the A272 is proposed along with internal access roads, pedestrian and cycle ways and bus access and bus stop.

Four areas within the development have been identified for use as light industrial or office floorspace, with substantial areas of structural landscaping to contain them.

Woodland within the site is proposed for retention and management as ancient woodland.

Some of the army buildings from the old camp remain on the site as part of the Fire Training Centre for the East Sussex Fire Brigade. This centre would remain and be enclaved within the business park.

An established permanent site for gypsy caravans is situated on the western boundary of the site.

ESCC planning officer Graham Arr-Jones said the Maresfield Camp site was one of a limited number of strategically important employment sites within East Sussex.

He said it was estimated the business park could accomodate some 20,000 square metres of mostly single storey floorspace capable of providing 600 to 700 jobs depending on the nature and employment density of occupying companies.

He said: This would be on the basis that the majority of occupants would be manufacturing companies with a requirment for some office accommodation.

Members welcomed the application subject to a number of issues being resolved to the satisfaction of the district council. One of these conditions was that the development met the detailed requirements of the Highway Authority regarding safe access via the new roundabout on the A272. A high level of accessibility by public transport, walking and cycling was also required in order to provide alternatives to private cars.

Mr Arr-Jones added: The application site is a brownfield site that has been identified for employment use for some considerable time. Much of the green appearance of the site from the external views is due to significant structural landscape planting on the boundaries of the site, carried out by the county council some 15 years ago in preparation for the development of the site for employment purposes.

The site is close to Uckfield where available employment land is in short supply and which in structure plan policy is a low weald town likely to take some additional housing between 2006 and 2011.

The county council is one of three landowners of the application site, the others being Wealden District Council and Summerthorne Estates.

The application will now go before district planners on Thursday October 18.