Councillor Peter Williams Leader of Burgess Hill Town Council

Peter will be using these pages to provide regular updates on projects, issues and topical matters of interest to Burgess Hill residents. He can be contacted using the details published on the ‘Town Councillors’ page.

Time brings many changes – Leader Update 36

Time is the one thing that progresses without interruption or deviation and we have no choice but to follow it.  Along the way, we set up out our plans for the future and hope that, in time, they will come about.  Some do, some don’t and for those that don’t, we often make a new plan.

One of the most important buildings in Burgess Hill is Park Centre, formerly St.John’s Institute, built in 1872 and donated to the town by Emily Temple, a local artist and business woman.  Over the ensuing generations, it fulfilled its purpose as community centre until it was closed in 2021 by West Sussex County Council, who had been the sole trustees since 1974.

The Park Centre passed to the Park Centre Burgess Hill CIO by asset transfer in February 2025 and in the past year the trustees and a small army of volunteers have worked wonders to transform the building into a welcoming community centre. In September 2024, the charity submitted a planning application to extend and improve the building with two extensions, one on the east side and one on the west.  After some issues with a potential flood risk assessment, the plans were changed and on 4^th December 2025, permission was granted.

The extensions will enable the charity to increase the number of rooms available to the community, including additional toilets and a Changing Places facility, extra storage and an all-important new lift.  Externally, the roof will be fitted with solar panels and the front entrance will be rebuilt to its original pattern.

There is a lot of money to raise now and Burgess Hill Town Council have committed up to £400,000 to the charity, in recognition of the importance of Park Centre as a community hub and arts venue.

It is good to see that there has been a new arrival in the Market Place Shopping Centre, in the form of ‘The Works’ but it is equally sad to see one of our long-time shops closing down and that is Clarkes of Sussex. Older residents will remember it being called Charles Clarke and then Clarkes Stationers but despite these name changes there has been one constant – the current manager, Jay Patel.  He joined the family-business as a young man 35 years ago and has been a much-loved member of our community ever since.

Jay had been thinking about closing and it was ‘The Works’ setting up next door that made up his mind.  Two stores selling similar products will not work in the current retail climate.  Here is the open letter that Jay has posted on social media as well as in his shop window:

The shop will close ‘sometime in April’ and when that is done, Jay is determined to keep himself busy by working for the community in and around Burgess Hill.  We will make sure that we keep in touch. Until then, there is still much to see in his shop.

Time has not been kind to the former Firgrove Nursing Home in Keymer Road, which closed in 2020 after the Care Quality Commission placed it in ‘special measures’ following several previous inspections which highlighted concerns over infection risks and poor management.

The building, which is a grand Victorian house, was not only closed as a nursing home but abruptly abandoned, leaving all the furniture and contents inside.  It was only a matter of time before vandals broke in and smashed and looted the place.  The grounds were secured by very rudimentary barriers, a complete hotch-potch of wire fencing and pieces of wood, a situation that remains to this day as shown by this photograph taken in February 2026.

Regrettably, the building has fallen into disrepair and despite our investigations last year, there is nothing any Council can do to force the owner to sell it or put it into a better state of repair.  A great shame, as the Town Council would much prefer that it was restored and returned to either a care home or another form of accommodation. For now, it remains as a ‘blot on the landscape’.

END