There's still time to have your say on proposals which will guide new development in the city to 2030.
We’re currently consulting on the proposed City Plan Part Two before we submit it to the Secretary of State for examination and approval and are asking local people to tell us what they think. The closing date for comments is October 30.
The Proposed Submission City Plan Part Two, which was agreed for the final round of consultation at the virtual full council meeting on 23 April, will guide new development in Brighton & Hove to 2030.
An earlier consultation was postponed due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The plan supports the City Plan Part One, adopted in March 2016, which sets out how the council intends to provide more genuinely affordable homes for local people, reduce carbon emissions, create employment opportunities and support economic recovery.
Councillor Marianna Ebel, chair of the Tourism, Equalities, Communities and Culture Committee said: “It’s important that the council has an up to date and robust set of planning policies to ensure greater local control over proposed developments in the city rather than using national planning policy which does not reflect the city’s unique and local character.
“The plan will help to ensure that the right amount of development takes place in the right places and that allocated sites that come forward for new development are managed to secure the type of higher quality development that is needed in the city.”
The plan identifies more than 50 sites for housing or ‘mixed-use‘ types of development.
There are also seven larger, strategic site allocations which support the much-needed regeneration of key brownfield sites in the city. They include the Brighton General Hospital site where the allocation includes provision for a new health hub alongside new housing and community facilities.
Other strategic sites include the Combined Engineering Depot on New England Road (housing and employment space), land at Lyon Close (employment and housing), Hove and the Sackville Trading Estate/Coal Yard site in Hove (housing, employment, retail and community facilities).
Councillor Ebel added: “Setting out site allocations gives us better local control over what is developed on these sites.
"This will enable us to ensure developments deliver the type of homes, jobs, business space, health and other local facilities that the city needs.”
The 13,200 new homes minimum housing target, set out in the Part 1 plan, only meets 44% of the city’s fully assessed housing need, assessed as 30,000 new homes in 2015.
This means that some sites on the urban fringe have been allocated through the Part 2 Plan.
The need to look at the urban fringe was firmly established by the national planning inspector in 2013 with the council told to plan much more positively to meet as much of the city’s full housing need as possible and ‘to leave no stone unturned’.
The proposed sites account for just 7% of the city’s urban fringe which means that the vast majority of these spaces will continue to be strongly protected.
For example, our new ‘special area’ planning policy for Benfield Valley will enable the council to successfully refuse unacceptable developments in this area.
The policy allows for a modest development of 100 homes provided the remaining open spaces are improved for local residents and managed to improve biodiversity and create a haven for wildlife.
There are 58 policies in the City Plan Part 2 and the majority provide detailed development management guidance. They include:
Rules around the current Covid-19 pandemic means we have temporarily changed the way we make development plan documents available.
Unfortunately, we are unable to make paper copy versions available for viewing at our customer service centres or libraries.
You can view the plan and supporting documents on our City Plan Part Two Proposed Submission Stage webpage.
Library members can use the library computers to view the Proposed Submission City Plan Part Two and supporting documents online. Please visit our library pages for the latest information on libraries re-opening and use of the library computers.
Anyone unable to view City Plan Part Two consultation online, can call the Planning Policy Team on 01273 292333 and leave a message.
The plan is a large document with 58 policies arranged under topic areas including site allocations. Residents can comment on as many policies and site allocations in the plan as they like.
You can comment using our online City Plan Part Two questionnaire, by emailing planningpolicy@brighton-hove.gov.uk or writing to CPP2 Policy Projects & Heritage Team, Brighton & Hove City Council, First Floor Hove Town Hall, Norton Road, BN3 3BQ.
Representations must be received between Monday 7 September and 23:59 on Friday 30 October 2020.
Only those representations made via the online consultation portal, by email or writing which arrive at the address specified within the specified consultation period can be considered.
Following the consultation period, representations will be submitted alongside the City Plan Part Two to the government.
The representations will be considered at the plan examination by an independent Planning Inspector appointed by the government. The examination of the plan is expected to take place in 2021.
