Brighton Council rejects Whittam Cox’s 850-home scheme

Brighton & Hove City Council’s planning committee refused consent for the practice’s Sackville Trading Estate and Hove Goods Yard scheme, which includes a 260-place care facility, 10 live/work units and a health centre – despite planning officers recommending approval.

The proposals would have seen demolition of existing structures in favour of a cluster of buildings up to 15 storeys high for developer Moda Living and site owner Coal Pension Properties.

Planning officers outlined a number of problems with the designs, including ‘deficiencies in the standard of accommodation in respect of sunlight and daylight provision within the care community’; ‘limited private amenity space throughout the scheme’; and ‘loss of light and sunlight for a number of properties on Sackville Road’.

They also highlighted ‘heritage harm’ to the setting of the listed Hove Station, the Hove Station Conservation Area and the locally listed Dubarry building.

Nevertheless, the in-house planning team told councillors that the public benefits of the scheme, primarily provision of so many homes, outweighed the harm it would cause.

‘When the application is assessed holistically, considering the need to maximise the potential of the site and the significant public benefits of the proposed housing, the overall design approach is found to be acceptable,’ the planning report to the committee added.

However, councillors voted against granting permission for the scheme.

A spokesperson for Moda Living said: ‘It is regrettable that elected members have turned down the opportunity to create hundreds of homes, 480 jobs and 90 apprenticeship places on a brownfield site next to a railway station that is allocated for homes and jobs. 

‘The scheme would have contributed nearly 20 per cent of the city’s five-year housing supply need, while also investing £10 million into the local community, including over £4 million on projects spanning education, employment, sport, public art and green spaces.

‘The project would have revitalised a long-dormant brownfield site into a truly multigenerational community, raising the standards for rental in the city and bringing forward much-needed housing. Moda worked closely throughout planning with Hove Civic Society, the Hove Neighbourhood Forum and Hove Economic Partnership, who all supported the proposals, to ensure plans met the needs of the wider area. We are currently considering our options.’

Brighton Council said a decision statement would be released in due course.