East Grinstead Society

Neighbourhood Plan

In autumn 2011 the town council began consulting residents on what they felt were priorities for the development of a Neighbourhood Plan for East Grinstead. The society’s response was to the effect that the town council’s aim for East Grinstead should be to keep its market town ‘feel’ as a place where people like to live and visit; that existing businesses remain here and new ones are encouraged to come; that town centre regeneration, reducing traffic congestion and providing sufficient parking are essential parallel objectives. That to maintain its ambience and character constraints on housing development set out in the Local Plan of 2004 remain relevant today. Until traffic congestion is reduced new building should be restricted to affordable homes on brownfield sites and to homes associated with town centre regeneration. Not acceptable would be attempts to build houses on valued green spaces within and around the town, or to close the gap between EG and Crawley Down by building on Imberhorne Farm fields to the west of the town.