Crawley Borough Council hopes to see new business moved into former Chinese restaurant on neighbourhood parade

The unit – formerly the Lily House – has been empty since before the pandemic.

During a meeting of the full council on Wednesday (October 16), Dipesh Patel (Lab, Southgate) said the shop was in ‘a very poor state of repair’ and had been the source of many complaints from residents over the last year.

Perhaps the biggest concern was the repeated fly-tipping to the rear of the shop.

Leader Michael Jones agreed that the fly-tipping was ‘an incredible nuisance’, and that the council had had to increase security at the premises.

He added: “The shop and maisonette were left in a very poor state of repair but our assets team has ensured there has been a deep clean and ensured that all the issues that residents raised about the shop itself were dealt with.”

And there is light at the end of the tunnel.

After a number of legal delays, the property was marketed – with bids due in by the end of this week – and there had been ‘good interest’.

Mr Jones said: “This is no surprise – all of our parade units attract interest when they’re vacant.

“Hopefully there will be a satisfactory offer that can be pursued and the good news for residents will be that there isn’t an empty unit on Southgate Parade any more.”