Cllr. Tracey Hill

BH2020/01609 – 25 Freehold Terrace

06/07/2020:

Stance: Customer objects to the Planning Application

Comment Reasons:

- Overdevelopment

- Poor design

- Residential Amenity

Comment: I object to this application and would like it to go to committee if the recommendation is to approve.

I question why employment use is considered redundant when there offices and other businesses very nearby, in both Freehold Terrace and Hollingdean Road. There may not be parking but it's very close to the Lewes Road which has excellent transport links.

If the argument for changing use to residential is accepted, I see no reason to think that it's only suitable for small single-occupancy units. The building opposite is 8 units of shared ownership social housing. There are families living elsewhere on Freehold Terrace and Hollingdean Road, and there is also considerable demand in the city for one-bed and two-bed flats - and there are numerous flats like that in the immediate area - so I see no reason why this building in this location should be converted into units of such small size. When the adjacent purpose-built student housing was agreed, I very much hope that it wasn't assumed that this was now going to become a "student area" unsuitable for anyone else. This is a mixed area, different types of residential homes and businesses, and should remain so.

I question the assumptions made in the planning statement about the 10% threshold. There are a lot of HMOs in this area. The fact that they are on Hollingdean Road and not Freehold Terrace as irrelevant as the policy is based on a diameter around the property specifically to include properties in front and behind as well as on the same street.

The standard of accommodation is poor. There isn't very much communal space. The roof terrace for 13 people is smaller than the size of one single room. Habitable rooms have windows directly onto the street. With people living in one room this leads to privacy issues.

I'm also concerned that other agreed intensive development in the area is thought to set a precedent for even more of the same. That will lead to harmful over-development and should be resisted.