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Plans to build nine houses on a former garage and workshop site go before councillors next week.
Burlington Property Group has already submitted an appeal because Brighton and Hove City Council has not decided Burlington’s planning application for 15-26 Lincoln Cottages, in Hanover.
Officials are asking the council’s Planning Committee to say what their decision would have been, had Burlington not appealed.
And they have prepared a report advising councillors to decide that they would be “minded to grant” permission for a one-bed bungalow and eight three-storey homes with three bedrooms each.
The site currently contains 22 garages and five small businesses, workshops and studios.
Burlington’s plans have attracted more than a hundred objections, according to the council’s website, with 62 neighbours commissioning a planning consultancy to object to the application, calling the scheme an “overdevelopment” of the site.
The MP for Brighton Pavilion, Caroline Lucas, has objected to the application, as did the former Green councillors for Hanover and Elm Grove, David Gibson, Elaine Hills and Steph Powell.
The Green MP raised concerns about the loss of employment space, the density of the proposed housing and the effect on parking in neighbouring streets.
She said: “My constituents report that since the change of ownership at this site, this thriving community, occupied by artists, musicians, furniture restorers and other small businesses and enthusiasts, has already been impacted by an increase in rents and a failure to maintain the building.
“Affordable workspaces for small businesses and artists are much needed in our city and I share my constituents’ concerns about the loss of this type of workshop and studio space and the impact this has both locally and the way in which it feeds into the broader local economy in the city.
Residents also told the MP of their concerns about the “unadopted” narrow access road to the site and whether it was “adequate” for rubbish collection services.
Former councillor David Gibson was concerned about the density of the development and the size of the three-storey buildings in an objection submitted in March.
He said: “The dense development could still cause significant harm and loss of amenity to the local community and, therefore, the plans should be rejected.
“I am concerned about the failure of the developers to engage meaningfully with local residents.
“They have failed to devise a scheme which provides for affordable housing and appear to have designed a scheme to avoid providing affordable units for our community.”
Burlington said that it had held a public meeting in the Village pub last November and 35 people turned up from the 212 households invited.
The London company, owned and run by Philip Patrick, 49, has offered to pay £533,200 towards affordable housing elsewhere, with the scheme expected to gross more than £5 million.
Burlington also said that a brick pier and bollards with a 1.2-metre gap between them would prevent vehicles from accessing the site while allowing room for people on foot or bike. It would mean, though, that residents would have to put their rubbish and recycling bins out on the street for collection.
Burlington’s planning statement said: “The proposed materials include high-quality neutral colour brick that alternates with splashes of colour on the doors and bike stores.
“Discussions with (council) officers revealed that they would like to see a modern design that nods to the characterful Hanover area.
“This has been adopted through the inclusion of coloured doors and bike stores to respond to the colourful houses that characterise the Hanover area of Brighton while still providing a high-quality building that is modern in design.”
The Planning Committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 2pm next Wednesday (2 August). The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
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