There is a huge amount being done to ensure Crawley remains a successful place to live, work and visit and Crawley Borough Council is heavily involved in that work.
I recently went personally to pick up the keys for the Crawley Innovation Centre following completion of the building conversion works. Located in the heart of the Manor Royal Business District, this will create more than 200 new jobs and benefit directly up to 40 businesses.
Drawing on Crawley’s long-standing reputation in advanced manufacturing and engineering, it will be a major asset to support Crawley’s existing businesses and enable growth in new and emerging business sectors such as clean energy and quantum technologies.
In the longer term, the aim is to help attract significant new manufacturing business investment into Crawley, including at new industrial space in Manor Royal.
Last week planning permission was granted for plans for the “Station Gateway”. We can now move forward with this, with works expected to commence in the autumn. This will physically transform the public spaces on the Martlets, Haslett Avenue West, and Friary Way, and deliver major improvements to the operation of the bus station. It will enormously benefit the residents of Crawley for generations to come and also reinforces our commitment locally to act to maintain and protect the vitality of the town centre in the face of wider challenges to retail and services.
The overall budget for the town centre scheme is £7.4 million – this includes £2 million from the government and a mixture of Crawley Growth programme funds originating from the Local Enterprise Partnership, both county and borough councils and developers’ statutory contributions for public facilities.
It will provide high quality, distinctive and enjoyable public spaces for residents, visitors, and town centre workers, boosting footfall and vitality in the town centre, as well as adding quality soft landscaping to the area with a variety of planting and greenery to enhance the quality of the environment.
In addition to the work fully completing next week on the Western Boulevard and the market moving to its new, improved location in March, there’s plenty of cause for optimism for Crawley’s future for everyone.
Cllr Michael Jones
Leader, Crawley Borough Council