Plans for the £750m redevelopment of Crawley town centre in West Sussex have taken a step forward after the local authority backed a development agreement with developer, Grosvenor.

Crawley Borough Council (CBC) gave the green light to proposals for the Town Centre North project at the end of November, and a formal signing of the agreement will take place once approved by the management board of Grosvenor in early December. A supplementary document plan for the redevelopment stated the development "should include leisure provision, particularly to support both the daytime and evening economy of the town centre and improve its vitality once shops are closed."

At the heart of the scheme is a John Lewis department store, although it is expected that restaurants, cafes and a hotel will feature as part of the development. A new civic square, improvements to public realms and improved pedestrian links are also proposed. CBC leader, Bob Lanzer, said: "Crawley has managed to buck the trend by keeping a major project alive at a time when so many others around the country are being shelved."

Head of property services and procurement at CBC, Jonathan MacDonald, added: "Schemes like this are hugely complicated and very difficult to broker. But reaching the development agreement stage means Town Centre North moves from a possibility to a probability."