One Brighton eco-development up for award

A Brighton block of flats hailed as a beacon of environmentally friendly house building has been shortlisted for an award.
The pioneering One Brighton scheme, in the heart of the New England Quarter behind Brighton Station, is up for a Royal Town Planning Institute Award.
It is being built by home builders Crest Nicholson and BioRegional Quintain, a company that designs zero-carbon communities. The aim is to make the flats completely zero carbon.
It is also the first new development to include the One Planet Living principle, encouraging residents to use renewable energy.
Residents of the 172 flats will be able to use an on-site composter and rooftop allotments. The scheme uses natural materials such as clay walls and natural fibre insulation, with a woodchip boiler for heating.
Brighton and Hove City Council, which helped the developers find a suitable location for the scheme, welcomed the nomination.
Cllr Lynda Hyde, chairman of Brighton and Hove’s planning committee, said: “One Brighton is a dramatic and attractive addition to the New England Quarter where the role of council planners has been used as an example of good practice on the Planning Advisory Service’s website.”
The council has also been shortlisted for its Urban Characterisation Study, which analysed the character of 32 neighbourhoods.
It is intended as a guide for planners to help work out what kind of developments will improve and complement the city.
Cllr Hyde said: “We need to know what’s there already before we can decide what to change. Also our own planning policy requires that all new developments should take into account local characteristics, including buildings, street layout, landmarks, views and local facilities.”
The council is the only local authority to be shortlisted twice for the awards, which will be announced on 4 February 2010.