Homes to be built in Brighton on site of former hen house

Planners have given permission for six houses to be built in Brighton on the site of a former hen house.

The three-storey houses were given planning permission to go up behind a terrace in Prince’s Road in the Round Hill area.

The new terrace will sit above the Brighton to Lewes railway line and across the tracks from the Hollingdean tip.

The two-bedroom houses will be built on a site that used to be a poultry farm, hen house and stables.

Previous applications for up to 30 flats or up to 9 houses on the site have been rejected. The last application to be turned down, three years ago, was for six houses. Pressure on parking proved to be a key issue. But a plan for four houses was approved in 2009.

More than 150 people have written to Brighton and Hove City Council to object to the current proposal.

But planning officers said that the latest scheme had addressed the problem areas that prevented previous applications from being granted.

The council’s Planning Committee ordered that the surviving trees on the site should be protected, including a mature horse chestnut.

There used to be a line of trees screening the junction of the old railway line to Kemp Town which has long gone – as have the trees.

A report from planning officers, which supported the new housing, said: “The proposal would provide the city with six dwellings each with private amenity space.

“The scheme is of an acceptable design which would not harm the character or appearance of the (Round Hill) conservation area and includes ecological and landscape enhancements.

“The development will not cause demonstrable harm to the residential amenity of neighbouring dwellings.

“Previous concerns relating to travel demands have been satisfactorily addressed.”

The applicant, a company called Carelet, has been asked to make a £9,000 contribution towards the cost of improving sustainable transport in the area.

The decision was taken at a Planning Committee meeting at Hove Town Hall this afternoon (Wednesday 15 May).