Planners advised to turn down new school for Hove

Councillors are being asked to turn down plans to build a primary school in Hove despite a shortage of places.

The Heritage Team at Brighton and Hove City Council has objected to a proposal by the Bilingual Primary School Brighton and Hove.

The school, currently occupying temporary premises in Falmer, wants a three-storey building to go on the site of the old depot in The Droveway.

The site is on the edge of Hove Park, next to the Engineerium, the Co-op superstore, in Nevill Road, and the City Park offices used by Legal and General.

It is the subject of two planning applications because it is on the edge of a conservation area.

Council officials are recommending that the conservation area planning application to demolish the assorted depot buildings and replace them with a three-storey building should be given planning permission.

But concerns about the size and scale of the proposed building have prompted officials to advise members of the council’s Planning Committee to reject the full planning application for the school.

The council’s Heritage Team said: “The application follows pre-application advice (from the Planning Department), although the design has altered significantly since the pre-application advice was provided.

“The existing buildings are of no architectural or historic merit, and their demolition is acceptable.

“The position of the proposed building is well placed in terms of the topography of the site and to respect the listed buildings at the neighbouring Engineerium.

“Its footprint, scale and massing, however, have an adverse impact on the conservation area and listed buildings.

“The space would be dominated by the bulk of the building in comparison to the size of the plot, which would detract from its character as a historically open space.

“The third storey in particular impacts on views of the Engineerium (such as that from the entrance to Hove Park on Goldstone Street), and therefore detracts from the setting of this group of listed buildings and their landmark status in the local area.”

The park entrance referred to is in Goldstone Crescent rather than Goldstone Street.

Planning and conservation campaigner Valerie Paynter said on the Save Hove website: “Hove Park is a major Hove facility used by people drawn from a wide area of the city population and (council) officers declared existing use to be ‘at capacity’  during one of the Park House planning applications.

“Locals already have to host the cars of people driving to the park to use it – all day every day. Lots of them.

“The arrival of City Park’s 2,000 had a major, adverse, impact on surrounding streets.

“The casual sense of entitlement by the school to use of this land beggars belief.”

The school’s head, Carolina Gopal, said: “We are trying to address the desperate need for primary school places in the city. It is particularly acute in Hove.

“The number of births continues to rise and new housing is planned for the King Alfred site, by Hove station and in Toads Hole Valley.

“The council has announced its intention to sell King’s House for housing.

“We are grateful for the temporary home that we have at BACA (the Brighton Aldridge Community Academy) but we are going to outgrow our current premises very soon.

“Our building has been sensitively designed to suit the site of the old depot which is down a steep hill from the Engineerium.

“It has been designed to accommodate the wildlife on and near the site and is well screened by dozens of trees. Even in winter, the screening would be sympathetic.

“We know that people living near the site are worried about extra traffic and pressure on parking and we have heard their scepticism about travel plans.

“But we have shown that our parents and staff can work with these sorts of issues at our present site and we will deal with them properly if the plans for the site in Hove are approved.

“We are keen to work with the council and the people living in the surrounding area so that we become good neighbours.

“Our school will bring many benefits to the community.”

The Planning Committee is due to discuss the application at a meeting at Hove Town Hall on Wednesday 18 September at 2pm.

The meeting is open to the public and will be webcast on the council’s website.