Grosvenor is in the early stages of developing proposals for a sustainable new community on land to the North West of Hailsham.
This strategic mixed-use development will bring forward approximately 2,500 homes alongside supporting facilities to assist Wealden’s long term growth. It is being proposed through Wealden’s Local Plan process.
Creating a new neighbourhood under the control of a single developer – rather than taking a more piecemeal approach – will help to ensure a high standard of design and construction across the project and allow us to plan for new services and amenities in a more coherent and coordinated way. These will include education and health facilities and additional sport and recreation space.
The new homes will be intended to meet the needs of different people in the district. Alongside affordable housing for rent and ownership, there will be a mix of market housing types and sizes to give local people greater choice. That will include homes that help first-time buyers get on the housing ladder and for downsizers – giving these buyers the opportunity to remain within their community.
Our proposals will be landscape-led. The development will be designed around a new park along the Cuckmere River. This will create a new publicly accessible asset for people to enjoy on what is currently private land. It will provide a natural focal point to the community and will also open up more opportunities for waterside activities.
We want to encourage sustainable travel and a priority as proposals evolve will be to establish convenient, safe walking and cycling routes as well as reliable public transport links, both within the site and to nearby destinations. In particular, the development will support more bus services for Hailsham and more frequent links to Polegate Station and Eastbourne.
We want to work with local communities to shape the proposals, giving residents meaningful involvement in how the new community is designed. Any designs and illustrations created to date are purely indicative and we intend to run a significant programme of engagement and co-design over the coming years to progress proposals. This process starts by us getting to know local communities better and understanding what matters to them. We would be delighted to hear from you.
About Us
At Grosvenor we have a history of creating places where communities, businesses and nature thrive.
We’re part of a progressive, privately-owned family business that has been developing and managing land and property around the world for more than 300 years. We work as a master developer on sites. That means we develop the vision for a new place, oversee its design and build-out, and lay the groundwork for future management.
Because we think long term, we can give equal weight to the social, environmental and commercial impact of everything we do. We think about how a place can attract investment, build value over time, and create a tangible legacy for communities. We set high standards for all involved in a project and we’ve committed to bold targets around climate action to drive a real step change in our industry.
Our vision for a new community and the processes we apply are never generic. We work closely with local people to shape our proposals together, understanding their ambitions for the future and what’s special about a place.
It’s a model we’ve adopted with great success at the new community we’re developing in Cambridge, called Trumpington Meadows, where we’ve delivered a 148-acre country park and nature reserve alongside 1,200 new homes. These principles have also guided our approach at Barton Park – an 885-home urban extension for Oxford and a demonstrator site for the NHS Healthy New Towns programme, an initiative to explore how better places can support people’s mental and physical health.
Our Programme
The site being considered for development spans around 300 acres on land to the north west of Hailsham.
It is enclosed by the A22, Hempstead Lane and Coldharbour Road with the Cuckmere River running through the site. At the moment, the land is being used for agriculture. We are proposing a new neighbourhood on the site with a mix of 2,500 homes, local amenities and green space.
Grosvenor has been appointed by local landowners to promote the site’s potential to become a new community. We will do this through the Local Plan process for Wealden district which earmarks where development can happen in the area over a 15 to 20-year period.
The District Council is currently looking at its strategic growth plan which will in turn inform the Local Plan. The draft Local Plan is set to be published in Spring 2022, after which we will have greater clarity over the Council’s strategy for the plan period and how the site can meet those ambitions.
We’ve introduced ourselves to a small number of local groups including nearby parish councils. As the Council’s plan moves forward, we will be developing our proposals further in consultation with the community. We want to collaborate closely with existing residents to understand what they would like to see in these proposals and to shape our plans with them. We have also started speaking to organisations including the Environment Agency and Southern Water which have important interests in the area. In addition, we’re undertaking some early technical assessments for example looking at landscape and local connectivity.
The District Council’s process for the local plan is thorough and expected to take several years. An indicative timetable for development is as follows:
Emerging Vision
As a growing district, Wealden needs new homes to be delivered across the next 15 years. We can help tackle that challenge by bringing forward a large-scale, well-located development scheme on land to the North West of Hailsham – a scheme that provides the necessary amenities, services and infrastructure to support new homes.
We want to build an ambitious vision for this new community working with local people, understanding and aligning with their priorities. Commitments that we would like to discuss to support the creation of a successful place include:
Delivery of new education, health, sport and community facilities
Providing a genuine mix of homes that enable local people to stay within Wealden
Improving public transport provision with new bus services for Hailsham
Opening up access to nature through a new riverside park
Enhancing local walking and cycling connections including delivery of a new bridge over the A22
Establishing new workspace such as a co-working hub and homes that can support flexible working
Responding to the climate emergency by designing in a way that will reduce the carbon impact of development
Working With You
We want to make sure our engagement is inclusive and that as many different groups within the community can have an opportunity to understand and help shape the proposals.
There will be clear ways that the community and interested parties can get involved and be heard and we very much want local people to be part of this process and to feel real ownership of the results.
Throughout the planning process we will be creating opportunities for people to participate in public and online drop-in sessions, to sign up to receive project updates via our website, attend site visits and participate in master planning design workshops.
Positive Space, our Community Charter, aims to set a new standard for public engagement. It seeks to offer communities we work with meaningful involvement in how their neighbourhoods evolve and underpins all our public consultations and community engagement. You can get in touch with us by emailing northwest.hailsham@grosvenor.com.
FAQs
About the Proposals
Grosvenor’s Role
The Planning Process
Community Engagement
New Homes
Services, Amenities and Facilities
Environmental Impact
Connectivity and Transport
Contact Us
Thank you for visiting our website
If you have any questions about this development, we would like to hear from you. Please get in contact with the project team directly about any element of the emerging proposals using the details provided. We will be very happy to answer your questions.
By Email
By Post
F.A.O Strategic Land Re: NWH
Grosvenor
70 Grosvenor Street
London
W1K 3JP
Downloads
Site Boundary PlanView/Download
Direction of Travel Ambition DocumentView/Download