Plans to build three commercial buildings in Fleming Way approved

The application for the Linac House site, formerly occupied by Elekta, was given the nod by the planning committee on Tuesday (April 23).

Rory Joyce, of Brunel Planning, said the development would ‘support the continued economic growth of both Manor Royal and Crawley’.

He added: “The proposal is for the phased redevelopment of the site to ensure that all three of the new buildings are comprehensively planned, so each phase will be able to operate successfully within the over all site.”

The first phase is for the demolition and redevelopment of Linac House, which has been vacant since March 2018.

Mr Joyce said the first phase had been ‘specifically designed to meet Elekta’s urgent need to further improve their operation here in Crawley’.

Elekta designs, manufactures and sells technology for the treatment of cancer.

Its Crawley campus is the largest in the world.

Mr Joyce said the new building would be used for ‘world-leading research and development and state-of-the-art manufacturing’.

The other two buildings would be warehouses for storage and distribution use, though no businesses have yet been lined up to move into them.

He added that the existing access to the site from Fleming Way would be ‘widened and improved’.

Dee Mathieson, managing director of Elekta in the UK, said: “We’re the only European-based company dedicated to radiation therapy treatment, machine development and distribution.

“We want to stay in the UK despite the challenges that we’ve faced with Brexit and the cost of doing business here.”

Elekta has been in Crawley for more than 60 years and Ms Mathieson said the application was ‘absolutely key’ to the company staying in the UK.

The plans received unanimous approval from the committee.

To view the application, log on to planningregister.crawley.gov.uk and search for CR/2022/0609/FUL.