Cabinet backed Wates Residential for Clair Hall and up to £1.5m of council reserves for a four-screen Digital Picture House venue and 39 homes. Planning comes next.

Mid Sussex District Council’s cabinet has agreed to appoint a preferred developer for the Clair Hall site in Haywards Heath. It has also approved up to £1.5 million from council reserves towards the new arts venue.

Updated 27 October: the council named the developer on 23 October as Wates Residential, which will put £3.4 million towards the venue. Community engagement is due in the first half of 2027.

The council announced the decision in a press release on 12 October, the day of the cabinet meeting. It values the whole redevelopment at more than £23 million.

At the time the developer was not named; the council said it and the emerging plans “will be announced shortly”. Before the meeting, the cabinet report referred to it only as “Bidder A”, with the name kept in a confidential appendix. We covered that report when it was published.

What was agreed

According to the council’s release, the plans include:

  • a council-owned cultural venue run by Digital Picture House, which already has cinemas in Uckfield and East Grinstead
  • a 133-seat main auditorium with an integrated stage, plus three smaller screens
  • a green room, an all-day cafe and restaurant with outdoor seating, and a community studio
  • 39 low-rise homes
  • a landscaped link from Perrymount Road to Clair Park, with better lighting and paths from the station

Digital Picture House has committed to more than 150 hours of live cultural activity a year.

The £1.5m from reserves

The council’s money goes towards a cultural facility costing about £4.9 million. The release says the contribution is needed “because development costs have risen”.

It will only be paid if conditions in the development agreement are met. The release names two:

  • satisfactory planning permission is granted
  • the venue is built by a target date

The council keeps the freehold of the finished venue. Digital Picture House will lease it, and the rent will help offset the contribution. The council says it will keep working with the developer to reduce the sum where it can.

New figures in the announcement

The release adds detail that was not in the published cabinet report:

Measure Figure
Social value offered by the developer more than £1.1 million
Native trees to be planted 200
Construction jobs 19 full-time equivalent
Apprenticeships 9
Work placements 20
Venue jobs up to 60, five of them full time
Cinema admissions forecast 115,000 in year one, 139,000 by year three

The social value package covers employment and skills support, careers work, local supply chains and wellbeing programmes, the council says.

What it means for you

  • Nothing is being built yet. The proposals still need planning permission. The council says residents will be able to view and comment on the detailed plans when an application is made.
  • None of the 39 homes are planned as affordable housing. The cabinet report said the council’s contribution relied on that. The release does not mention it. It will be tested again at the planning stage.
  • The building has been shut since spring 2020. On the developer’s programme in the cabinet report, the venue and homes would be finished in autumn 2029.
  • The developer is Wates Residential. The council named it on 23 October, after the other bidder’s eight-working-day standstill period. Our story on the appointment has the new figures and timetable.

For other schemes across the district, see our Mid Sussex planning news page.