Public meeting in Hove to hear about bus station plans

A public meeting is being held in Hove this week to discuss the proposed redevelopment of the Conway Street bus depot.

Three councillors have invited people who may be affected by the Hove Square scheme to hear feedback from the developer Matsim’s initial consultations.

Councillors Ruth Buckley, Rob Jarrett and Alex Phillips called the meeting which is taking place at the Honeycroft Centre, behind Conway Court, by the corner of Sackville Road and Clarendon Road.

The meeting, which is being held from 7.30pm to 9.30pm on Wednesday (14 November), will give residents a chance to ask questions and discuss the proposals.

A representative from Matsim will report back on the recent initial public consultations, which included an exhibition.

The report will detail how many people attended, an analysis of the response from public and the impact of comments on the planning application.

Martin Randall, head of planning at Brighton and Hove City Council, will talk about the planning application process.

And Mike Gibson, emeritus professor of planning at London South Bank University and an expert in the planning powers created by Localism Act, will also speak.

Professor Gibson, who lives in Fonthill Road, Hove, will explain how the act means that people living in the area can set up a neighbourhood forum and draw up a neighbourhood plan.

If a neighbourhood plan wins public support, it could become official planning policy for the area.

This would affect what Matsim could apply to build on the five-acre site.

One of the aims of the meeting is to start work on setting up a neighbourhood forum and recruiting 21 people to the forum as required by the Localism Act.

The Save Hove campaign group is urging anyone who thinks that they may be affected by the bus depot scheme to attend the meeting on Wednesday.

Although the meeting has been organised by the Green Party councillors for Goldsmid ward, Save Hove said that the project would almost certainly affect people in neighbouring wards.