Campaigners are jubilant after a decision to sell farmland on the edge of Brighton and Hove to the Royal Mail was put on hold.
Councillors had been due to discuss a long lease for Patcham Court Farm, in Vale Avenue, Brighton, this afternoon (Friday 29 July).
In return, Brighton and Hove City Council and its joint venture partner Hyde Housing would have entered talks with the Royal Mail to buy two redundant sites for housing.
The joint venture, Homes for Brighton and Hove, would have had an exclusive four-month opportunity to agree a deal for the delivery office sites in North Road, Brighton, and Denmark Villas, Hove.
But the Green council leadership dropped the proposal before a special meeting of the council’s Policy and Resources Committee at Hove Town Hall this afternoon.
People in Patcham were concerned that councillors were prepared to agree a lease days after the Royal Mail submitted a planning application for the disused farmland.
Members of the Patcham Against Royal Mail campaign group lobbied council officials to put the decision on hold until the Planning Committee had made its decision which could be some time away.
Since the planning application was published on the council’s website last week, more than 200 people have submitted objections, while three comments have been left in support of the scheme.
Campaign member Rebecca Kimber said: “It’s great news that the decision has been put on hold. Hopefully, this indicates that residents’ concerns are now being taken seriously.
“But it’s vital we maintain pressure to ensure that continued attempts to push this unsuitable and unwanted development through do not go unchallenged.”
Conservative councillors Alistair McNair and Anne Meadows, who represent Patcham ward on the council, back the campaigners.
Fellow Tory councillor Carol Theobald, who also represents Patcham, has stayed out of the debate because she is a member of the Planning Committee and is required to keep an open mind.
Councillor McNair said that he had been prepared to oppose the lease proposal at the town hall meeting today.
He said that he had been shocked that a report that was due to be debated today had said that there was “positive support” for the project.
He said: “I am delighted this report has been removed from today’s committee. It should never have been brought to this committee and bore little resemblance to residents’ experience of the process so far.
“Councillor Anne Meadows and I worked hard with Councillor Steve Bell to take this off the agenda, and many thanks to residents for so clearly and cogently voicing their disapproval of the scheme.”
Councillor Meadows said: “I’m pleased to see the report has been pulled but am concerned that it is only a temporary reprieve.
“This is because Councillor (Phélim) Mac Cafferty has stated that the lease report will still go before Policy and Resources Committee prior to any planning application being considered.
“The council prides itself on being one council yet here we have two departments pretending they are separate – and that confuses many residents.
“We will be helping our residents in Patcham navigate the processes they will have thrown in their way as the community stands up to this plan.”
Councillor Mac Cafferty, the Green leader of the council, said that the decision on Patcham Court Farm had been dropped today after discussions with the Labour and Conservative political leaders.
The council said that the decision was withdrawn so that officers “can continue to explore every viable option for housing on the sites being vacated by Royal Mail” and listen to residents’ views.
The council added: “It’s imperative that councillors feel they have all the available information and options so that they can make an informed and fully considered decision about the future of Patcham Court Farm and securing Royal Mail jobs in the city. This will take more time to provide.”
The land fell into disuse about 30 years ago after it was cut off from neighbouring farmland by the A27 Brighton bypass.
Previous plans to develop the site have fallen through, from a park and ride to a hotel proposal, with people raising concerns about the potential pollution of the water source under the site.
Patcham also has a history of flooding, which neighbours have raised in the past, concerned about the extra run-off if the site is surfaced with concrete.
