Agenda item - Hove Station Area Supplementary Planning Document

Report of the Executive Director Economy, Environment, & Culture (Copy Attached).

RESOLVED: That the committee;

(i) Noted the comments made during public consultation and the proposed responses (see appendix 1).

(ii) Agreed to adopt the Hove Station Area Supplementary Planning Document (attached as Appendix 3 to this report) and authorises the Head of Planning to make any necessary minor grammatical and non-material text and illustrative alterations in consultation with the Chair of TECC Committee prior to its publication.

27.1 The Chair invited the City Regeneration Programme Manager (Alan Buck) to introduce the report.

27.2 The City Regeneration Programme Manager introduced the report starting on page 77 of the agenda.

27.3 Councillor Ebel raised that the Hove Station area is in her Ward and thanked the City Regeneration Programme Manager for his hard work. She also raised that the area is in need of improvement in terms of accessibility and the lack of green spaces, and she hoped the Supplementary Planning Document would help with these issues.

27.4 Councillor Brown raised that she agreed with the opinion of the Brighton Society that the buildings planned are too high, and that the need for trees and green spaces are not pushed strongly enough in the report. The City Regeneration Programme Manager responded that any tall building proposal needs to be accompanied by a very detailed assessment before being built, and a dark enclosed environment due to tall buildings is not what is being proposed in the report.

27.5 Councillor Grimshaw was informed that the reason why only 54 people responded to the consultation, many of whom were key landowners, developers, and Ward Councillors, was because you can’t force people to respond, and many of the responses were submitted anonymously. The City Regeneration Programme Manager also confirmed that a number of individuals had given comments after attending the consultation events, which weren’t included in the report.

27.6 The Chair was informed that groups such as the Hove Station Neighbourhood Forum and Hove Civic Society represent a large number of people, and a lot of consultation has been happening in the area with the Hove Station Neighbourhood Plan recently which may explain the lack of engagement.

27.7 The Committee voted on the recommendations and they were agreed, with Councillors Simson and Brown voting against, and Councillors Grimshaw, Evans, and Childs abstaining.

RESOLVED: That the Committee:

(i) Noted the comments made during public consultation and the proposed responses (see appendix 1).

(ii) Agreed to adopt the Hove Station Area Supplementary Planning Document (attached as Appendix 3 to this report) and authorises the Head of Planning to make any necessary minor grammatical and non-material text and illustrative alterations in consultation with the Chair of TECC Committee prior to its publication.