Decision - Hangleton Bottom - Update

1.       That the approach to marketing and creating an informal planning brief for this council owned site as set out in the report be approved.

2.       That it be noted that, following market testing on the basis of an informal planning and development brief, a further report will be prepared setting out the results and future potential options for the redevelopment of the site for Cabinet consideration.

The need for both the waste and ambulance facilities is pressing and of importance to the City as a whole.  Hangleton Bottom is one of the key sites which could potentially accommodate these uses and meet local community requirements.  However, the full extent of the demand for the site is unclear and the site represents a finite resource.  For this reason a clear corporate decision on the future use options and marketing of the site is needed to facilitate the preferred way forward.  The first steps will be to prepare a marketing brief, to include an informal planning brief that will set parameters for the development and expose the site to the market to assess in greater detail the requirements of waste operators.  At the same time the brief will encourage a holistic approach to the site by way of a mixed use scheme to optimise the use of available space to meet local and citywide requirements.  This market response will inform the subsequent decision making process about the development of Hangleton Bottom. 

The process will also assist in the assessment of the potential value of the site in what is a specialised market.  

1.       Land allocated for waste facilities within the City is extremely scarce with the only other site being a 1.9 Ha (4.7 acre) site at the former Hove Goods Yard off Sackville Road which is indicated in the Waste Local Plan for waste and potential waste transfer by rail. This could accommodate waste operators although it has previously been dismissed by one.  Furthermore, it is currently occupied and we have no control over its release as it is not a Council owned site. Potential alternative sites are being evaluated through the work on the Waste and Minerals Development Framework but realistic, deliverable options in the City are likely to be extremely limited.

2.        Whilst it is not a requirement on the council to provide sites for commercial waste operators, it is the planning authority’s responsibility to identify and facilitate the release of sufficient sites to deal with the City’s waste. With a scarcity of sites for recovery facilities and landfill opportunities disappearing soon it is in the City’s interest to help provide an effective local solution for dealing with its commercial and industrial waste.  Commercial waste contractors are of course free to seek their own alternative solutions outside the City but these could have implications for dealing with waste generated in the City e.g increased costs because of haulage the impact of which would be passed onto local businesses. It is also important that the City takes responsibility and plays its part in managing waste within its boundaries where possible rather than relying on exports to surrounding areas.

3.       There are no other sites with the unique benefits of Hangleton Bottom, namely its waste allocation in an adopted plan, its access to the A27 and strategic road network and its availability for development.  Although a range of ideas have been considered for the site’s development in the past its waste allocation has always been a key determining factor in limiting the development aspirations. The present proposals present an opportunity to identify demand more clearly and pursue an opportunity to facilitate the mixed development of the site whilst meeting several key objectives via a mixed use scheme.  This would be of great benefit to the city and has the potential to make progress despite the current economic uncertainties because of the type of uses envisaged and the needs they address. 

4.       Other sites have been rejected by SECAMB, mainly on planning and availability grounds although one alternative could have been to accommodate the entire ambulance station facility at the Council’s Patcham Court Farm(PCF) site that has a planning designation for high tech business uses or general office use with consideration given to other uses which meet the council’s priorities in relation to employment. An informal planning brief has been issued on PCF indicating potential ancillary uses could include a hotel. The SECAMB proposal contains a large workshop element and could take a considerable portion of the site, inhibiting office development on the remainder thereby significantly reducing the potential capital receipt and conflicting with the adjoining Patcham Village Conservation Area. The possibility of splitting the ambulance facility to accommodate the office element on PCF and the workshop element at Hangleton Bottom was ruled out as unsuitable by SECAMB.