Crawley Borough Council's Planning Committee is scheduled to meet on 14 October 2025 to discuss planning applications and updates on planning appeals. The committee will be considering a recommendation to permit an outline application for land east of Tinsley Lane in Three Bridges, and another recommendation to permit the erection of a new bin store at Leicester Court, Newbury Road, Pound Hill. The Planning Committee will also be reviewing recent planning appeal decisions.

Land East of Tinsley Lane, Three Bridges

The Planning Committee will be considering report PES/498a, which recommends that outline planning permission be granted for development of land east of Tinsley Lane in Three Bridges. The application, reference CR/2021/0355/OUT, is for:

OUTLINE APPLICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT OF UP TO 138 NEW MARKET AND AFFORDABLE HOMES (USE CLASS C3); DEMOLITION OF THE EXISTING OAKWOOD FOOTBALL CLUB FACILITIES AND PROVISION OF A NEW CLUBHOUSE, SENIOR ALL-WEATHER AND JUNIOR GRASS FOOTBALL PITCH; PROVISION OF NEW PUBLIC OPEN SPACE AND WOODLAND ACCESS; NEW SITE ACCESS FROM BIRCH LEA AND IMPROVEMENTS TO THE EXISTING SITE ACCESS FROM KENMARA COURT; AND OTHER ANCILLARY WORKS (ACCESS TO BE APPROVED WITH ALL OTHER MATTERS RESERVED).

The applicant for the proposed development is Homes England, and the agent is WSP.

The report pack details that this application seeks to build up to 138 new homes, along with a new clubhouse and football pitches for Oakwood Football Club, new public open space, woodland access, and new site access from Birch Lea and improvements to the existing site access from Kenmara Court. The report notes that a previous outline application on this site was refused planning permission on 30 September 2020, contrary to officer recommendation, due to the density of the development being out of character with the area, and the intensification of use of Birch Lea causing unacceptable harm to the residential amenity of existing residents. The current application has reduced the number of homes from 150 to 138.

The report pack states that the council's Local Plan allocates the site for mixed residential and recreational development, with an indicative capacity of 120 dwellings, and requires the replacement of Oakwood Football Club, a senior 3G football pitch and facilities, a junior football pitch, community use arrangements for the sports pitch facilities, enhancement and management for public access of Summersvere Woods, on-site publicly accessible play space and amenity greenspace, and the provision of allotments. The Tinsley Lane Development Brief sets out detailed issues to be addressed in any development proposals for the Tinsley Lane site.

The report pack details that Sport England has assessed the scheme against exception 4 of its Playing Fields Policy and Guidance document and paragraph 104 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Sport England do not object to the application, subject to a detailed and specific range of sporting facilities and arrangements being secured through a Section 106 agreement¹.

The report pack states that the council's Housing Enabling and Development Manager is happy with the level of affordable housing provision, although details of the unit mix and the clustering and placement of the affordable units will need to be agreed.

The report pack notes that the site is affected by noise from a number of sources, including traffic on Crawley Avenue, Crawley Goods Yard and the London to Brighton mainline railway. The report pack states that Environmental Health are satisfied with the noise mitigation proposals, and raise no objection, subject to conditions addressing noise issues.

The report pack states that an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) has been designated by the council immediately to the south of the site, running along Crawley Avenue. The report pack notes that Environmental Health recommend measures to ensure that the scheme mitigates its potential to reduce air quality within the AQMA.

The report pack states that Southern Water has confirmed that it can supply mains water, but have commented that the existing water main in Tinsley Lane has insufficient capacity to serve the proposed development, and that the existing water main in Gatwick Road would be used to provide water, as it does have capacity to serve the proposed development.

The report pack states that the council's consultant archaeologist recommends a condition to secure a programme of archaeological work before development commences.

Leicester Court, Newbury Road, Pound Hill

The Planning Committee will be considering report PES/498b, which recommends that planning permission be granted for the erection of a new prefabricated 'MetroStor' bin store at Leicester Court, Newbury Road, Pound Hill. The application, reference CR/2024/0202/FUL, is for the erection of a new prefabricated 'MetroStor' bin store. The applicant for the proposed development is Crawley Borough Council, and the agent is also Crawley Borough Council.

The report pack details that the proposed bin store would be located to the north-west of the flats on an area of grass immediately adjacent to the internal access road. The bin store would be a purpose-built structure measuring a width of 3.93m, a length of 5.1m and a height of 2.53m, with a steel frame, timber cladding to the elevations and a steel flat roof.

The report pack states that the Waste and Recycling Officer advised that there are ongoing issues with the current set up of separate stores for rubbish and recycling on the end of the building, and that the new store would be larger and therefore able to accommodate additional bins for the new collection service which starts in 2026.

The report pack notes that the site is within a red zone for Great Crested Newts.

The report pack states that the Local Planning Authority has concluded that the proposal would not adversely affect the integrity of the protected sites and would not conflict with the obligations under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.

Update on Planning Appeals

The Planning Committee will be considering report PES/499, which provides an update on appeal decisions received from the Planning Inspectorate within the Crawley Borough Council boundary from 21 June 2025 to 26 September 2025.

The report pack lists the following appeal decisions:

• CR/2022/0708/FUL - 106 Three Bridges Road, Three Bridges, Crawley - Appeal Dismissed
• CR/2024/0724/FUL - 38 Kilnmead, Northgate, Crawley - Appeal Allowed
• CR/2023/0140/FUL - Unit 21, The Imperial Centre, 41 - 45 Gatwick Road, Northgate, Crawley - Appeal Allowed
• CR/2022/0356/FUL - Beaubush Castle, Horsham Road, Bewbush, Crawley - Appeal Withdrawn
• CR/2024/0433/TEL - Hazelwick School, Hazelwick School Close, Three Bridges, Crawley - Appeal Dismissed
• CR/2025/0053/FUL - 10 Hazelwood, Gossops Green, Crawley - Appeal Allowed
• ENF/2021/0019 - Newmark Pegler Way West Green Crawley West Sussex - Appeal Allowed
• ENF/2023/0096 - 22 Alicia Avenue, Pound Hill, Crawley - Appeal Dismissed
• CR/2024/0583/FUL - 10 - 11 Queens Square, Northgate, Crawley - Appeal Dismissed
• CR/2024/0584/ADV - 10 - 11 Queens Square, Northgate, Crawley - Split Decision