The owner of a derelict building by Hove Park is expected to try for planning permission for a third time in three years.
But first Brighton and Hove City Council is asking the public what it would like to see on the site.
The council is hosting a series of exhibitions about Park House on the corner of Old Shoreham Road and Goldstone Crescent, Hove.
The first exhibition opened today and is open until 8pm at Hove Park Bowls Club, with council staff present to answer questions.
Park House was a private house and then an old people’s home before it was taken over by Bellerby’s language school.
The site, housing an Edwardian mansion and its more modern extension, was sold to Hyde Martlet housing association in 2007.
Hyde Martlet has twice tried to win permission to build more than 70 apartments on the site but has failed on both occasions on design grounds.
Both times it appealed to the Planning Inspectorate – a government body – and both times it lost.
Now the council has decided to create a planning brief for the site, setting out the limits of what can and cannot be built there.
The planning brief will give detailed design guidance on the scale and type of development that it considers suitable.
First though it wants the public’s views and is using the exhibitions to give people a chance to have their say.
One concern is that the main building, which is more than 100 years old, could be demolished. It does not have the protection of being a listed building.
Apart from the exhibition today in the park, the information will be on show at Hove Town Hall from 9am to 5pm tomorrow (Tuesday 8 February) and on Wednesday and Thursday.
The key information can also be seen by clicking here.
The deadline for comments is 5pm on Friday 11 February.
Comments should be made in writing to Planning Strategy and Projects, Room 407, Hove Town Hall, BN3 3BQ, or emailed to jo.thompson@brighton-hove.gov.uk.
