Plans to build a new school have been dropped in favour of 180 extra homes on a greenfield site in Hove.
If planning permission is granted, they would be built next to 880 homes that have already been approved in principle in Toads Hole Valley.
The revised scheme, reflecting a fall in pupil numbers in Brighton and Hove, is due to go before councillors next Wednesday (8 March).
Officials broadly support the outline planning application for the site which is on land between the A27 Brighton bypass and King George VI Avenue, known locally as Snakey Hill.
In May last year, Brighton and Hove City Council’s Planning Committee granted outline planning permission for a scheme that included 880 homes, sports facilities, community and commercial buildings and a school.
The revised application for land at the bottom of Snakey Hill has been submitted by the consortium behind the scheme – Toads Hole Valley Limited, Pecla Investments Limited and Robert Simon.
They submitted an education needs assessment with their latest planning application. It concluded that there was no need for a new school building and that any provision could be covered through the community infrastructure levy (CIL)
The assessment was prepared by Heather Knowler, senior consultant with Education Facilities Management Ltd.
It said that birth rates across Brighton and Hove had dropped from a peak of 3,303 in 2008 to 2,395 in 2019 and showed no sign of levelling off.
For the past four years, the council has looked to reduce admission numbers at primary schools across Brighton and Hove, including nearby West Blatchington Primary School.
Ms Knowler said: “It is clear that pupil numbers have expanded over the last eight to ten years and that a significant ‘bulge’ of children is working its way through the system.
“It has now moved into the secondary school phase and will take a number of years to work through. After 2023, however, the pressure should start to reduce for that cohort.
“For the primary cohort, numbers have completed their rise and should now reduce through to 2027 followed by a projected upturn.”
The council’s education team backed Ms Knowler’s findings.
I very strongly agree some medical and community infrastructure needs to be in place in this area, or more accurately, across Brighton and Hove in general. The pressures that we see in emergency and hospital care are reflected in the primary care and third-sector offering. I would like to suggest that these groups are incorporated into any such developments.