Planning rules put 39 Brighton and Hove green spaces at risk

Thirty nine of Brighton and Hove’s remaining green spaces could be turned into housing.

The prospect of building on just one such site – Meadow Vale in Ovingdean – has already prompted protests.

But Brighton and Hove City Council has been told by a government planning inspector to leave “no stone unturned” to identify sites for new housing.

Next week councillors will be asked to approve a list of 39 “urban fringe” sites where up 1,200 homes could be built.

It is part of the process of persuading the government to agree the City Plan – the masterplan for what can be built in Brighton and Hove over the next 15 years.

Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty

The council is under pressure to allocate land for up to 24,000 new homes in the City Plan. Until now, it has identified enough for 11,300. The government wants more.

The ruling Green Party criticised what it described as a “government raid on green spaces”.

It said that the government was forcing the council to allow developments on parts of the urban fringe.

And if the council’s Policy and Resources Committee rejects the list next week, there is a danger of a developers’ free-for-all putting all 39 sites and others at risk.

Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty, the Greens’ planning spokesman, said: “The government is holding our green spaces to ransom.

“If they don’t get the sites they want for development, virtually every open space in our city is up for grabs.

“This government raid on our green spaces means that if we want any protection or high development standards across the city, we have to accept their demands.

“Otherwise the whole of Brighton and Hove will be exposed to the full-blown effects of the government’s National Planning Policy Framework and a virtual free-for-all for developers.

“Of course homes are needed – but new developments have to be appropriate.

“This is yet another appalling example of the government’s dodgy definition of localism.”

He called the government’s policy a “developers’ charter” and urged councillors of all parties to support the proposals being put before the Policy and Resources Committee next Friday (11 July).

He said that these at least provided protection for parks and playing fields, cemeteries, ancient monuments and sites of special scientific interest.