New hope for play centre

Mr John Hopper is hoping to submit plans by the end of this month for a building at 60/64 Framfield Road, currently occupied by Ibus, a company which makes computer equipment.

He is increasingly optimistic that this time he will be able to proceed because talks with district planners, the highways authority and the town council have given him the impression that they all look favourably on the site.

His previous application for the old Friday Ad premises on the Bellbrook Industrial Estate was turned down because of concerns about it being on an industrial estate and a lack of parking.

Parking looked as if it could be a problem again this time but in addition to the 18 spaces on the site itself Mr Hopper has secured the agreement of Mitchell and Cooper to use their 40 spaces at weekends and to use the Foresters Hall car park for any overspill during weekdays.

If the plans are approved Mr Hopper is hoping to be ready to open Kool Kids before half term in May.

The new building is bigger than the last he looked at, just under 13,000 sq ft as opposed to 8,000 sq ft, but it is not as high as he would have liked and will not be able to accommodate the big Astra slide he was hoping for. But there will be plenty of space for other slides to compensate, he said.

He was hoping to provide six party rooms in addition to play space and equipment for different age groups, the very young, children aged 18 months to three years and those aged between three and 11.

Initially he would expect to employ 17 full and part time staff but in time that number could increase to 40.

'Uckfield is a great place. It is a growing and prosperous area and centrally located with Crowborough, Haywards Heath and Heathfield around it and there is nothing else like this around. We had a lot of support last time for our plans and we will be asking for as much support as possible again this time,' said Mr Hopper.