To some it's a ghost town "rotting from the inside out". To others it may simply be a necessary stop on their train journey between Brighton and London. Burgess Hill residents have been up in arms and crying out for change after yet another shop closed its doors .
Costa Coffee in Market Place finished trading on July 7 for the final time. Following the closure, people jumped to social media to share their frustrations and blamed the town council, which said it has no control over the closure. One person said the town was "rotting from the inside out", while another called it another "boring ghost town".
On a sunny Monday morning I went on a train journey into Burgess Hill to find out more about the town from the residents and understand what it is really like to live there. What I first noticed was the amount of greenery surrounding the area. To the west of the town you have Goddards Green while to the south, separating it from Hassocks, you have the Batchelors Farm Nature Reserve and the Nightingale Meadows.
To the east you have Ditchling Common Country Park and finally, to the north, you have Bedelands Nature Reserve. From all angles there are beautiful meadows and protected nature havens to be seen and appreciated. From all angles there are beautiful meadows and protected nature havens to be seen and appreciated (Image: Google Maps) But the talk of the town when I arrived was about how run-down everything was and how much redevelopment was needed.
"The state of the town is a bit desolate, to be honest, but hopefully it gets better soon," said Grace Murphy, a visitor from Haywards Heath who spends a lot of time in Burgess Hill. She added: “My kids have friends in the area and they often come to the greens to go for hikes or walks or just get out of the house. “I come here often to do some shopping at B&M and just have a moment to myself from the busyness in Hayward Heath.
It’s easy enough to get to with the train or even bus." I spoke to another visitor, this time from London, called Peter Blake. He said: “I’m just on my way back to London from work and had to stop off to buy some food.
I wouldn’t come back, it feels like it is stuck in the past.” To the North just before Haywards Heath and Sandrocks you have the Bedelands Nature Reserve (Image: Burgess Hill Town Council) Sadly, the feeling was shared by Simon, a resident who wished to remain anonymous. He said: “The nature around the town is why I stay here.
Otherwise I would be away and move to a different town in Sussex. "It has become a sad state of affairs to see what the town has become. I’ve lived here for about seven years now, and it’s just got worse and worse.
” The town does have a shopping area close to the train station that can be bustling with people at the right times. Market Place Shopping Centre housing B&M, Caffé Nero and a WHSmith is the go-to shopping attraction. Julie Briggs, a resident who has lived in the town for over a decade, thinks all it needs is a makeover.
“The shopping area has a lot of what is needed for the residents, and we even get visitors from the towns around come here to shop," she said. “It just needs to be improved and revamped. Look at how Costa recently shut down, it feels like anything new that comes in just doesn’t last.
'I wouldn’t come back, it feels like it is stuck in the past' (Image: Google) "Whether that’s because people don’t want to shop on the high street and support the locals like The Mercantile Adventurers, or because there is no real reason to go there is the real question.” The Mercantile Adventurers on Cyprus Road in Cyprus Hall is a retail unit which is home to various different types of shops, including The Mercs café serving plant-based vegan food and drinks and Beyond the Fringe Hair. The Mercantile Adventurers on Cyprus Road near Cyprus Hall in Burgess Hill (Image: Ramy Abou-Setta / The Argus) Though many complain about the state of the town, Burgess Hill Town Council has been implementing a Town Wide Strategy which it adopted in March 2018.
"There is a great deal of affection for Burgess Hill and a desire to see it improve. Many referred to the town centre as dying and liked the fact that it would be improved," the town council wrote on its website. "Burgess Hill Town Council is committed to taking a lead role in the future development of the town and its economy to make it an even better place in which to live, work and invest.
" A strategic growth programme implemented in the town has the ambition to revitalise its local economy, providing 15,000 jobs, improved transport, even more green spaces and in the region of 5,000 new homes. And many residents remain hopeful. One of them told us: “ I love my little town, it might need some work and we may not be as nice as Haywards Heath but we have our quirks and the community here is just absolutely lovely.
” And Burgess Hill is a lot more than just its high street - it is steeped in history. Local historian Fred Avery found that the town grew out of the ancient parishes of Clayton and Keymer, and the name of the town is believed to be derived from that of the Burgeys family who were taxed there in 1296, 1327 and 1322. The area was dependent on agriculture during this period with farm buildings dating all the way back to the Tudor times.
During the Second World War Burgess Hill played a little-known role in housing up to 50 Jewish girls from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia. The girls were sent to the UK through the ‘Kindertransport’ scheme, which saw an estimated 10,000 Jewish children rescued from the Nazi regime. Wyberlyle Ladies Convalescent Home in Burgess Hill when it was operational (Image: Burgess Hill Town Council) (Image: Burgess Hill Town Council) They stayed at Wyberlyle Ladies Convalescent Home in the town which was operated by the Grand Order Sons of Jacob and was taken back by the military in 1941.
Though the building is no longer operational, an information board telling the story of the hostel now sits in Marle Place Park. It is clear to see that Burgess Hill is setting its sights on becoming an attractive place to live and work. Only time will tell whether the closure of Costa Coffee could have been a warning sign of a dying town or the spark of a belief in local trade and economy.
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