Burgess Hill Town Council’s Annual Meeting this evening saw sixty residents hear a round up of the Council’s activities in the year, and an invitation for views on its proposals for the Burgess Hill over the next twenty years.  Consultation on the plans has been extended to 31^st March and is available on the Town Council website.

Among questions asked were issues relating to parking enforcement and development of the town centre, and the round table discussion on the town’s growth strategy ensured more interaction with councillors rather than the normal line by line seating plan.

Parking enforcement in Mid Sussex is carried out by a team of 12 which generated £149,000 in off street parking fines and £111,000 in off street (car park) fines, although this still left a deficit on the costs of the enforcement service of £85,000 – although these are figures from 08/09 – the last available on Mid Sussex’s website.

The issue of the health of the town centre and particularly the fire damaged corner of the Martlets Shopping Centre was raised and it was useful to have Gary Marsh from Mid Sussex DC to respond, the new owners of the shopping centre, New River Retail and their plans for the site are due to be discussed at a Better Mid Sussex Advisory Group meeting on April 7^th – we look forward to early proposals to redevelope this site.