‘Closing the budget gaps’
■ Latest proposal to close Broadbridge Heath’s running track and use the site for 100 homes is met with dismay ■ Future of Horsham’s Drill Hall also set to be discussed
Housing development on Broadbridge Heath’s running track is being explored again by Horsham District Council.
Back in 2014, the council’s Broadbridge Heath Quadrant masterplan proposed 200 apartments on the site of the track with a new facility on the other side of the A24 at Tanbridge House School.
Nothing came of these plans and since then the council has opened a replacement leisure centre at The Bridge.
However debate within the council about the future of the track has continued.
Back in 2018, HDC said it was exploring options to relocate the running track with a cost-analysis exercise being carried out for both Tanbridge and Bluecoat Sports Centre in Christ’s Hospital.
A decision was then pushed back.
Since then HDC has refused two applications for an all-weather running track and expansion at the sports centre at Christ’s Hospital School.
The school has appealed against the decision to the planning inspectorate and an inquiry is set to be heard in May.
A fresh council report confirms it is looking at the possibility of building 100 new homes on the Broadbridge Heath running track site.
This would save HDC money on replacing the track and running costs as well as generating an income from 35 affordable homes.
The report suggests there are options to reprovide a track elsewhere, but any capital expenditure and running costs would reduce the income generated.
Keith May, chairman of the Horsham Blue Star Harriers, said: “We are sorry to see that in the latest financial extract to be presented to the Cabinet on 28th January the prospect of the closure of the track at Broadbridge Heath has again been highlighted.
“As a club we want to remain at Broadbridge Heath, linked to the other excellent sports facilities on the site and highly accessible to the town and wider district.
“We trust that the council’s commitment to provide an equivalent track if Broadbridge Heath is closed would be honoured.”
Matt Allen and Louise Potter, Lib Dem district councillors for Broadbridge Heath, argue that losing the track would affect all groups of the community, but the younger generation being hit the most with athletes having to travel outside of the district in order to train.
They said: “Any closure of the running track, therefore, should take place following the approval of planning permission for a replacement elsewhere in the district.
“This replacement track should be as accessible as the existing one and as publicly available for use.”