There is still no start date in site for long-awaited changes around Three Bridges railway station.
Plans to improve the station forecourt – notorious for traffic congestion – have been discussed for years, with a planning application finally approved in March 2023.
But during a meeting of Crawley Borough Council’s planning committee, it was revealed that it would a while before any work actually started.
The issue was raised by Kim Jaggard (Con, Maidenbower) who asked why the council was ‘drip-feeding’ money to the scheme.
A report to the committee said that £16,787.31 of Section 106 money – contributions received from developers – had been given to the project before July this year.
Mrs Jaggard said: “I’m a bit concerned [it’s] taking up quite a lot of our money and nothing actually has been done on it.”
The council’s head of economy & planning said the money had already been budgeted for as part of one of the Section 106 agreements.
As for the improvements, the scheme was listed as being due for completion by 2026/27.
When asked if he had any idea when it would actually start, the officer added: “We are still in the throes of the negotiations with the railway authorities.
“We are making some progress on that and our expectation is that we will very soon be moving towards what’s called a series of land exchange arrangements that would then enable the scheme to be finalised.”
Once that is done, a consultation will be held before the project is referred to the Office for Rail and Road for a final assessment.
