Concerns about sale of fomer adult education centre Marle Place in Burgess Hill

Marle Place, in Leylands Road, was declared surplus to requirements last year and a decision made last month to put it up for sale.

That decision has now been called-in for further consideration after a number of concerns were raised including the matter not receiving public scrutiny.

Stuart Condie (Lib Dem, Burgess Hill North) will lay out the full reasons for the call-in to a meeting of the Performance & Finance Scrutiny Committee on Friday (March 10).

He was supported by Kirsty Lord (Hassocks & Burgess Hill South), Richard Cherry (Burgess Hill East) and John Milne (Horsham Riverside).

Other concerns raised by the four were:

• Whether enough effort had been made to incorporate community interests in the sale
• That the potential for a partial sale of the site had not been considered
• policy had not been followed when it came to ensuring that a range of options such as social, community or environmental use be considered.

The property is listed online as ‘under offer’, with a sale price of £1,350,000.

In a report council officers said: “Marle Place comprises two separate and self-contained two and three storey former residential properties, each with their own separate self-contained gardens with mature trees and shrubbery.

"The houses share a large tarmac hard standing area used for parking that abuts Leylands Road. Over the years the properties have been subject to a number of alterations and additions to support the current commercial use, providing classrooms and teaching facilities.

“Marle Place has until recently been leased to a provider of Adult Education services. The lease expired and the property returned to the estates team.”

They described how the site and buildings are ‘tired and dated’ requiring substantial investment if the structures were to be retained or repurposed.

They say this would be necessary to bring the property into good repair and condition, address backlog maintenance and ensure safe, lawful compliance.

Costs were projected to be upwards of £350,000.

An options appraisal was undertaken, with no viable options identified. The property was then declared surplus in October 2022.