West of Ifield

Gillespies is part of the multidisciplinary team preparing a hybrid planning application for West of Ifield, a proposed new community on a 172-hectare site west of Crawley. The work follows an earlier strategic framework for 10,000 homes and brings landscape planning, design coding and environmental assessment into the current 3,000-home phase.

The landscape structure responds to the River Mole valley, ancient woodland, flood meadows and the Ifield Brook Meadows Local Wildlife Site. Four proposed neighbourhoods are supported by schools, employment space and sports hubs, while half of the site is planned as publicly accessible open space.

A 50-hectare country park would rewild agricultural land around the River Mole and connect habitats, walking and cycling routes. The official project page records the scheme as ongoing, so it is presented as a proposal rather than a completed place.