Parade improvements get the go-ahead!

1.29.35pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 29th Mar 2007

Northgate Parade in Crawley - the car park, overcrowded, poorly laid out, and about to be improved

The green light has at last been given for the proposed improvement work on Northgate Parade. At last night's Crawley Borough Council executive meeting authorisation was given for detailed designs to be undertaken, the seeking of tenders and obtaining the necessary consents and agreements for the scheme's implementation.

Gordon Seekings, Councillor for Northgate Ward Crawley Borough Council, who has been arguing for improvements to the Parade for years

The scheme has a budgeted figure of £158,000 from the Borough Council and a further £30,000 from West Sussex County Council to pay for the resurfacing of the immediately adjoining footpaths. Northgate Councillor Gordon Seekings, who has argued for many years for improvements to the neighbourhood Parades and argued the case for improvements at last night's meeting, said "This scheme has been a long time in the planning and even longer since it became obvious that improvements were needed to be made. I am now hopeful that by the end of this year the scheme will be completed."

Work planned includes:

· Reconfiguring the car park be creating a new exit on to Barnfield Road and creating a one-way system around the car park.

· Fixing the drains in the car park

· Upgrading the paving and surfacing around the pedestrian areas

· Installing tactile paving to the pedestrian crossings.

· Increasing and improving the lighting and particularly at the western end of the Parade (with its entrance into Hollybush) and in the car park.

· Replanting the landscaped area

· Installing better seating and cycle parking stand

· Increasing the number of parking bays for disabled drivers and making sure that they are easily accessible to the Parade itself

The full report agreed last night can be found on the Crawley Borough Council website at http://tinyurl.com/33fg3s