Plans for a new housing estate have been redrawn to deter cats living in the new homes killing birds, reptiles and dormice.
A larger buffer zone is now proposed to sit between new homes on the south west corner of the Toads Hole Valley site and adjacent open land.
The zone will also divide the the undeveloped land from floodlit community sports pitches.
The revised plans for 182 homes on that part of the site – which was originally earmarked for a school – are now being re-advertised on Brighton and Hove City Council’s planning portal.
The developers, Toads Hole Valley Limited, Pecla Investments Limited and Robert Simon, have already been given outline permission for a wider development of 880 homes on King George VI Avenue, Hove.
The buffer zones, which have been increased from 15 metres to 25 metres from homes and 40 metres from the pitches, are a result of discussions with county ecologist Dr Kate Cole.
Additional food growing space has also been added to the site, as well as changing facilities for a community building and the provision of a neighbourhood play area.
In a covering letter, Martin Carpenter, director of planning agents Enplan says: “We acknowledge that the county ecologist raised concerns about the potential impact on the adjacent Local Wildlife Site (LWS) from lighting to the pitches and the additional residential development to the south.
“In view of this we have included the sports pitches on the amended illustrative masterplan for the current application and have included the pitches in the lighting modelling assessment.”
In her response to the original application, which was submitted in August, Dr Cole said: “Residential development is likely to substantially increase the number of domestic cats on site, which is likely to lead to increased predation.
Given the increased risk of predation, both in terms of the likely additional number of cats from an additional 182 dwellings, and their closer proximity to the LWS, a 15m buffer is not considered sufficient.
“Furthermore, the masterplan appears to show this buffer zone as consisting of grassland and ditches/swales which will not provide any deterrent to cats.”
As the developers no longer need to include a school to the wider development, they are proposing a multi-use games area (MUGA) and community sports pitch should form the majority of their section 106 agreement – a developer’s obligation to fund community infrastructure locally.
The original plans for a children’s play area are also being enlarged and will include more equipment for older children because of the extra homes.
If the application is granted, the homes would be built together with the homes on the rest of the site.
The wider proposed development is a 42-hectare privately owned site, south of the A27 near King George VI Avenue, and would deliver 40 percent affordable housing.
You can view the full planning application by searching for the reference BH2022/02534 on the council’s planning portal.
This is a bit naive really (re cats). I’ve kept cats for nearly 40 years now – not the same ones obviously – both here and elsewhere, and if they’re catchers, which by no means all of them are, then they will roam and catch for as long and as far as it takes.
However, notwithstanding that, the proposed changes look to be a good thing generally.