Hove developer says Portzed will be smaller

Portzed developer Colin Brace spelt out proposed changes to his plans at the annual meeting of a Hove residents group set up to fight the scheme.

He told the Kingsway and West Hove Residents Association (KAWHRA) that his new scheme would not include the wind turbines that he had originally hoped to include. These had proved unpopular with neighbours.

He also said that some of the six buildings would no longer be as tall – the end buildings would be three storeys high, rising to five storeys for the middle two.

He said that he still hoped to build the greenest building in Brighton and Hove with solar power cells on every appropriate surface.

The site, between Basin Road North and Kingsway at the Hove end of Shoreham Harbour, would also include a thermal heat exchanger and a biomass boiler burning woodchip.

Mr Brace also answered questions about the revised scheme this evening (Tuesday 22 May). The changes, he said, had been shaped by residents’ objections and feedback from Brighton and Hove City Council.

The original plans were turned down by the council’s planning committee earlier this year.

More than half of the 50 members at the KAWHRA meeting had been along to an exhibition that Mr Brace held on Friday (18 May). The proposed changes to the scheme were on show there.

Since being set up in response to the Portzed proposal, the residents association has widened its remit.

Councillor Garry Peltzer Dunn spelt out progress on confirming the right of way down the steps between Kingsway and Hove Lagoon.

The landlord of the Blue Lagoon, Alan Kane, explained why he had challenged the right of way.

He wanted to try to keep his property safe and to make it less likely that the steps would be covered in urine and broken glass.

Mr Kane said: “We’ve tried to be good neighbours. Since we’ve been there – for eight years – we’ve only had the police called three times.

“That’s a hell of an improvement on the way it used to be.”

He spelt out some of the changes that he and his family had made and agreed to hold talks with the residents association about a way forward.

The meeting was also told about the draft City Plan, the parking review and the forthcoming consultation on cutting speed limits to 20mph.

Another neighbourhood group, the West Hove Forum, holds its annual meeting at Honey Croft in Sackville Road, Hove, at 6pm tomorrow evening (Wednesday 23 May).