The application for the Sussex House site in Perrymount Road was given the nod by the planning committee on Thursday (January 22).
The council received 432 letters in support of the plans and 41 objecting.
Supporters were pleased that the supermarket would create up to 40 jobs, that it represented significant investment in the local economy, and that it would be a ‘visual improvement to a tatty and run down area of Haywards Heath’.
Perrymount Road is also home to a branch of Waitrose, which sits opposite the site, with Sainsbury’s on the other side of the railway line.
Objectors to the plans said there was no need for another supermarket and suggested that the site would be better used for housing.
It was a view shared by a number of other councillors including Richard Bates (Lib Dem, Haywards Heath Ashenground), who said it was the ‘wrong location’ for the store and ‘housing was a better benefit for the area’.
He added: “This is a transport hub. It’s OK for housing. There’s a lot of congestion in the area at the present time and it’s going to get even worse with the sort of movements you get from a store like this.”
Eric Prescott (Con, Handcross & Pease Pottage) said competition to the major supermarkets was needed and would serve people well when it came to the cost of their weekly shop.
The application was approved by 11 votes to one. To view it in full, log on to pa.midsussex.gov.uk and search for DM/24/3077.
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