Hailsham Town Centre Masterplan Options Consultation

Status: Closed

Following on from an initial successful consultation in 2019 with more than 800 respondents, ‘Hailsham Aspires’ is now launching the next stage of stakeholder engagement to understand residents’ thoughts on three different masterplan options for the town centre.

Hailsham Aspires was created by Wealden District Council to bring forward plans to enhance and regenerate Hailsham Town Centre. The vision for the regeneration is to create a welcoming, inclusive, and impressive design that draws on the history of the town and enhances its surroundings. The current proposals include retail, employment space, civic and leisure uses, and new environmentally friendly town centre homes for local people, as well as an exciting evening economy, public realm, and car parking.

The aim is to address the challenges the town centre currently faces, and to support local communities now and into the future, investing in the town as a key growth area in East Sussex in line with the vision in the Hailsham Neighbourhood Plan.

The first stage of consultation explored the aspirations of those that live, work in, or visit Hailsham, asking a range of questions on key topics. A desire to see more landscaping, trees and green spaces was popular, as was improved access for pedestrians, cyclists, and enhanced sustainability measures. Respondents were keen for regeneration to enhance and be sympathetic to Hailsham’s history and heritage.

After many months of collating information from local people, businesses, stakeholders, and Council officers, the Hailsham Aspires project team have put together three separate masterplan options to revitalise the town, and we would like to hear your thoughts on these.

Councillor Bob Standley, Leader of Wealden District Council, says: “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to build sensitively and thoughtfully for the future of Hailsham town centre and it is so important that residents seize the opportunity to have their voices heard.”

Mayor of Hailsham and Chairman of Hailsham Town Council, Councillor Paul Holbrook says: “This is an exciting project to rejuvenate and reinvigorate the centre of Hailsham for both present and future generations to enjoy. I look forward to seeing the feedback received from the consultation and how this will feed into the final masterplan”

For key findings and changes made see results below:

Topics covered by this consultation:

Council Business, Community Safety, Leisure, Culture, Voluntary & Community Sector, Public Health, Children and Young People, Older People, Education & Skills, Local Businesses, Communication & Engagement, Private sector housing, Accessibility, Council housing, Affordable housing, Homelessness, Waste & Recycling, Roads & Transport, Planning, Environment & Sustainability, Council assets, Economy

Consultation Start Date: 18/01/2021

Consultation End Date: 14/03/2021

Results expected by: 14/05/2021

Please note: these dates are subject to change.

Areas covered by this consultation:

Wealden District (All)

Target audience for this consultation:

Wealden Residents, Wealden Businesses, Children & Young People, Voluntary and Community Sector Organisations, Visitors & Tourists, Town and Parish Councils, Service Users, Partners in the Public Sector, Older People, Hard to Reach Representation Groups, Consultants/Contractors, Carers, Housing Tenants, Key Stakeholders, Local Authorities, Homeless People, Families

Frequency of this consultation: One-off

Methods of consultation used:

Online Survey (All Public), Telephone, Postal, Email

What Happens Next?

When the consultation closes on 14^th March, the project team will collate all of the feedback and use this to create a further masterplan option based on the responses given. The Hailsham Aspires Project Sponsor Board will then agree a preferred masterplan option that will be put to Wealden District Council formally for confirmation.