Below are some of the most frequently asked questions of the Trustees. If you have a question not answered here, you can submit your question to the board using the form at the bottom of this page and we will try to provide a prompt answer.
Halesworth Campus owns the site.
Thanks to Suffolk County Council’s support for the project, we have not had to buy the Campus site, formally the middle school, or pay for demolition work. This land is already allocated for development under Waveney District Council’s Local Development Framework (HAL 3), which was then adopted by East Suffolk Council in March 2019 (WLP4.1).
The North Suffolk Skills Centre, located on the site, is still owned by Suffolk County Council.
If the planning applications are approved by East Suffolk Council, part of the Campus land will be sold to Castlemeadow Care to develop the nursing home and assisted living apartments. Land to the south of the site, where it is planned to put the all-weather pitch, is presently privately owned but will come into the ownership of Halesworth Campus. This transfer is dependent on the plans for the sport and leisure, health and social care facilities and the nearby housing being approved.
- Sport and leisure facilities
- Health and community provision
- Links to business and commercial activity
Ultimately, Halesworth Campus wants to create a beautiful space for everybody to enjoy on one integrated site.
Halesworth Campus is situated on the former Middle School site at the corner of Norwich Road and Harrison’s Lane.
The board of trustees of Halesworth Campus is working closely with several partners:
- Public bodies: Suffolk County Council and East Suffolk Council
- Charitable and not-for-profit organisations: Halesworth Health, Halesworth Volunteer Centre and Sentinel Leisure Trust
- Private businesses: Castlemeadow Care, Pulse Fitness.
Suffolk County Council are working directly with Suffolk New College to provide education and training opportunities in the Skills Centre. We plan to work with Suffolk New College with the aim of making their tenancy work for everybody.
- Grass pitches for hire by local organisations
- The Apollo Youth Club
Phase 1 of development will include:
- A new care home, with beds that the NHS can commission
- Supported dwellings for senior people promoting independent living in later life
- Fitness suite with 50+ workout stations
- Three multi-purpose studios
- Full-size, floodlit, all-weather 3G pitch
- Full-size grass pitch for football and rugby
- Changing rooms for both indoor and outdoor sports
- A community cafe and garden and outdoor performance space
- A community space
- Landscaped areas including a play area, perimeter track, public art and casual recreation space
- Walkways, Trim Trail and cycle paths to and around the site
- Parking in line with Sport England requirements for ‘normal usage’, plus possible overflow parking
- Replacement facilities for the Apollo Youth Club, subject to additional funding
Future phases, subject to funding, will include:
- Three-court multi-sports hall, suitable for badminton and cricket nets
- Hard courts for tennis and netball
- A community swimming pool
The not-for-profit company Sentinel Leisure has been appointed as preferred operator to manage the sports facilities.
Castlemeadow Care will be operating and managing the nursing home and assisted living apartments.
Suffolk County Council are working directly with Suffolk New College to provide education and training opportunities in the Skills Centre. We plan to work with Suffolk New College with the aim of making their tenancy work for everybody.
Funding will come from several sources. The main contribution is coming from the sale of land owned by Halesworth Campus, while other monies will be provided by a variety of sources such as developers, Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), sporting national governing bodies and other external funding streams.
Halesworth does not have a nursing home and, with the demise of the Patrick Stead Hospital, there is a need for beds in Halesworth. Halesworth Campus will include a care home with nursing plus dementia care and extra-care apartments. Castlemeadow Care was selected as our preferred partner to deliver the health provision. The sale of land to Castlemeadow Care will raise some of the funding required to develop other parts of the Campus.
We aim to provide a pedestrian-friendly environment with wider footpaths and seating to ensure safety and accessibility. Visitors driving to the sports facilities and Skills Centre will access the site via the existing Harrison’s Lane entrance. Care home visitors and residents will enter the site from Bungay Road. Highways and transport assessments have been undertaken to ensure that the access roads can accommodate the level of traffic that would be generated by the development.
The planning application will be submitted in two parts:
- Late autumn 2019: Submission of detailed plans for healthcare and all-weather pitch only, and outline plans for all the remaining sports facilities
- Spring 2020: Submission of detailed plans for the remaining Phase 1 sports facilities
The Local Authority will progress the application through to a recommendation to the Planning Committee for a decision in Spring 2020
Full plans, once submitted, will be available to view on the planning portal for East Suffolk:
https://www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/planning/planning-applications/publicaccess/
If all goes smoothly with planning and the funding streams, we expect to be able to start on site in the Spring of 2020. The 3G pitch will be constructed first due to its requirement of a 12-month settling period before use. During this time the first phase of the indoor provision will be completed. Therefore, it is likely that the facilities can be completed and opened for the Autumn/Winter of 2021/22. Every effort will be made to complete Phase 1 within an 18-month period.
The Local Authority will progress the application through to a recommendation to the Planning Committee for a decision in Spring 2020.
Full plans will be available to view on the planning portal for East Suffolk:
https://www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/planning/planning-applications/publicaccess/
The proposed location of the 3G all-weather pitch is as far from local residents as it can be on the site. In addition, the planning authority is likely to set conditions limiting the times at which potentially intrusive facilities can operate. Modern design and installation for lighting and acoustics should reduce the impact on residents. There will also be sympathetic landscaping and planting that provide enough boundary protection where required.
The Apollo Youth Club building will not be affected by the initial phase of the Campus development, during which the youth club will continue in its current location. However, the existing building will have to be demolished at some point, to make way for later phases of the Campus development. The Campus trustees are committed to working with the club and our partners to provide replacement facilities of some sort, to be available before the current building is demolished. We also hope that club members will get involved with Making the Place, the Campus arts project and, with others from the community, help us design the cafe and social spaces that accompany the new sports centre.
The Skills Centre on the Halesworth Campus site re-opened in February 2018 with a new training provider, Construction Training Specialists (CTS), a subsidiary of Peterborough Regional College. However, in May 2019 CTS went into liquidation.
During the winter and spring terms (2018/19) Coastal Leisure provided adult leisure education classes in a variety of subjects.
Suffolk County Council made the decision in July 2019 to work directly with Suffolk New College to provide education and training opportunities in the Skills Centre. We plan to work with Suffolk New College with the aim of making their tenancy work for everybody.
The proposed development will work around the mature trees on site as best it can, and tree removal will be kept to a minimum. Some shrubs and trees will have to be removed to enable the development, but these will be replaced by an attractive landscaping scheme.
Without volunteers there would be no Campus Project – it’s as simple as that! There are no paid staff, and over the years Trustees past and present have put in literally thousands of hours to help the project move forward. We will have a great deal of work going on in different strands, so if you have skills and time to offer, we would welcome your support. Please do get in touch via the Contact page of this website to express an interest. If accepted, you will get a proper induction and you will have a member of the Board as a ‘link’ person. You will be insured whilst on Halesworth Campus business.