Eight new homes were approved on a garage site after the developer and community came up with a better plan.
Brighton and Hove City Council’s Planning Committee voted unanimously to approve Burlington Property Group’s plan for eight townhouses at 15-26 Lincoln Cottages, in Hanover, this afternoon (Wednesday 4 December).
The company already has planning permission to build eight townhouses and a bungalow at the site. The council had rejected the plans in August last year but they were approved on appeal.
Instead of a bungalow, the revised scheme includes a landscaped area with trees and a pond.
Resident Liz Cooke spoke on behalf of neighbours at the meeting at Hove Town Hall and said that they preferred the proposal for eight homes with a communal garden.
Previously, neighbours sent 96 letters objecting to the proposals and worked with a planning consultancy to spell out their reasons.
Ms Cooke, who spoke to the committee to object to the application last year, asked for the communal garden to be available for existing neighbours to use as well as new residents.
The neighbours were also concerned about a potential 16 extra parking permits adding more cars to the already congested and narrow streets around Lincoln Cottages.
Burlington’s agent, Oliver Milne, an associate director at Savills, said that, after the previous application, there had been positive engagement with the community, resulting in the plan for a communal garden instead of a bungalow.
He said that the new garden would improve biodiversity and any trees that failed to survive in the first five years would be replaced.
A bin store is also due to be sited further from an existing neighbour than in the earlier plans.
Labour councillor Ty Galvin asked Mr Milne to confirm access to the gardens but he was told that it was not possible to make this a planning condition.
Councillor Galvin said: “Some of the back gardens of the existing properties can enter into this area when they come out their back gates.
“We do not expect the gardens to be made available to every Tom, Dick and Harry but for people in that locality it would be wise for the developer to allow access to the community gardens.”
Conservative councillor Carol Theobald was disappointed at the contribution to affordable housing which, if agreed, is likely to be £112,000 rather than £300,000 as previously proposed.
Councillor Theobald said: “I would have liked to have seen affordable housing units as this site is ideal for affordable units.
“It’s a shame they’re getting away with it. As it’s been allowed on appeal, I don’t think we’ve got a lot of choice here. It’s difficult to say no.”
Labour councillor Tobias Sheard shared his frustration that national planning rules limited the council’s power to insist on more affordable homes on the site.
Councillor Sheard said: “The money that is stripped from us in affordable housing funding is an absolute crying shame.
“It’s almost a dereliction to the working class communities they’re building these houses around.”
Working class? Hanover? These people are the bourgeoisie. They’ve been sucking the life out of the council tax budget for years while the rest of us go without. How much did that I’ll thought out low traffic area cost us? And all the other failed ideas that get bounded about for this former slum area.
So yet again no affordable housing and a risible amount offered in ‘so called’ compensation. By the way I know plenty of people in Hanover who would be classified as ‘working class’…
Totally agree BRR. So sad that with a Labour government we still get overruled by central government. Cllr Ty Galvin and others tried hard to make this development more equitable. Are we to believe that there is going to be a private garden tat nearby residents do not have access to?
The class prejudice exhibited by Mr. Smith is nonsense. And it was bods in the Council trying to find work for themselves in a department that could well do with pruning that came up with the idea of the LTN for Hanover. No doubt some councillors were for it to be fair :it was defeated largely by a vigorous Facebook campaign to which I contributed. And no, I am not one of the bourgeoisie who live there but I’m across the road from it and walk or drive through it.
Good to hear. People need homes and this is a great area.
No bungalow means less homes, and the affordable home levy will be paid for by the other home buyers putting up the cost of housing. Left wingers are not good with maths.