Land west of Imberhorne Lane, East Grinstead

We appreciate that residents want to see improvements to existing facilities and infrastructure in East Grinstead. Our proposals for the land west of Imberhorne Lane create opportunities for a number of improvements to be delivered in the coming years:

GP facilities provision

Our proposals for the land west of Imberhorne Lane can provide space for on-site GP facilities, if this is desired by the GPs currently providing NHS Primary Care in the area.  This space could be provided as part of the proposed Neighbourhood Centre or as part of the proposed Care Community.  We have been in contact with NHS Sussex to make clear that provision for GP facilities can be provided on-site if desired, and NHS Sussex have confirmed their position in the following statement:

“NHS Sussex and Welbeck Land will be supporting GP (Primary Care) access for all residents of the proposed development on the land west of Imberhorne Lane. Welbeck Land will either provide funded premises for local Primary Care NHS contact on-site or support the expansion of existing GP sites that already support this area – the GPs in the area are currently looking at the best model to support care, and updates will follow in the coming months.

NHS Sussex would like to recognise the valued support of Welbeck Land in their offer to provide on-site premises funded by their project or contribute to extending current Primary Care provision.”

Secondary school provision

The land west of Imberhorne Lane is immediately adjacent to Imberhorne School’s Upper School site. Our proposals include gifting over four hectares to Imberhorne School for new sports facilities, which would free up land on the Upper School site for the possible future expansion of the school.  Mid Sussex District Council’s Site Allocations Development Plan Document (2022) specifically states that one of the council’s objectives in allocating the land west of Imberhorne Lane for development is to ‘facilitate the expansion of Imberhorne Upper School’.

Also, the East Grinstead Neighbourhood Plan (2016) sets out an objective to consolidate the two parts of Imberhorne School – the Upper School and Lower School – on the Upper School site. Our proposals would help to enable the delivery of this objective if still desired by the parties involved.

We have also designed three highway improvement schemes, to help address concerns about the capacity of the local road network:

Improvement scheme for the A22 / Imberhorne Lane junction

This scheme would involve the widening of the junction, the widening of the A22 on the northbound approach to the junction, the widening of the northbound A22 just past the junction and the relocation of the pedestrian islands. This would create two northbound lanes on the A22 through the junction where currently there is only one, significantly improving the movement of through traffic at the junction.

Improvement scheme for the A22 / A264 junction approach

This scheme would involve the widening of the A22 on the northbound approach to the A264 junction, to extend the existing left-turn lane. This lane currently starts after the junction with Standen Close, but the scheme would extend the lane by approximately 100 metres so that it begins after the junction with Furze Lane, creating a much longer two-lane section of the A22 on the northbound approach to the A264 junction.  In response to feedback received during the autumn 2022 consultation, a ‘KEEP CLEAR’ box is now also proposed at the junction of The Feld and the A22.

Improvement scheme for the Imberhorne Lane / Heathcote Drive junction

Though a vehicle access to the development is no longer proposed opposite Heathcote Drive, we are proposing alterations to the Imberhorne Lane / Heathcote Drive junction to improve the flow of traffic. Under these proposals, traffic lights would be installed at the junction, with highway land on the western side of Imberhorne Lane used to widen the junction and create a two-lane northbound approach with a dedicated right-turn lane for those wanting to turn right into Heathcote Drive.  It is considered that these alterations would improve the flow of traffic through the junction.

We have undertaken traffic modelling, using parameters agreed with West Sussex County Council, to understand the impact of these improvement schemes on traffic flows. This modelling shows that the improvement schemes result in significant improvements in overall journey times along the A22 corridor compared to the existing situation, and successfully mitigate the impact of the proposed development on the land west of Imberhorne Lane. We have discussed our improvement schemes and our traffic modelling with both West Sussex County Council and Surrey County Council.

Funding already exists for the improvement of the A22 / A264 junction, and we consider that the most effective way to proceed would be for a financial contribution to be provided to West Sussex County Council, so that this contribution can be combined with the existing funding available and enable the two County Councils to deliver the improvement schemes it considers most beneficial to the operation of the A22 corridor as a whole.  These could be the schemes we have designed or alternative schemes which provide further holistic benefits to the operation of the network.