Plans to conserve green spaces and protect wildlife corridors could be put to a public vote.
The proposals are contained in the Rottingdean Neighbourhood Plan which is due to be presented to members of Brighton and Hove City Council next week.
The neighbourhood plan is intended to enhance and conserve Rottingdean parish and has been signed off by Rottingdean Parish Council.
It identifies two “local gaps” and nine “valued local green spaces” as well as the aim of protecting wildlife corridors.
Councillor Sue John, who chairs Rottingdean Parish Council, said: “Our parish council steering group worked to put the plan together in response to local consultation at a time when the parish council itself was being consulted on a series of major planning applications aimed at urban fringe sites and the former St Aubyns School and playing field.
“For our village, this is an unprecedented period of growth.
“The planning brief for St Aubyns was produced by Brighton and Hove City Council working in partnership with Rottingdean Parish Council and the former owners of the St Aubyns site, the Cothill Trust, providing in-depth planning guidance for the former school, associated land and its heritage assets.
“The school lies within the conservation area where any development needs to be especially sensitive to its surroundings.
“This plan includes the proposal that the remaining land on the former St Aubyns playing field should be designated local green space, making it an accessible public space.
“We have also identified a number of other sites within the parish which we feel merit the same protection.
“We have tried, wherever possible, to reflect the views and needs of Rottingdean residents and stakeholders within our goals and policies which we trust will frame the basis of development for Rottingdean until the year 2030.”
The parish council submitted the neighbourhood plan in January before a public consultation by Brighton and Hove City Council in February and March.
The plan has since completed an assessment with a neighbourhood plan examiner to ensure that it follows national and local planning policies.
Following the examiner’s report, published in October, a few amendments relating to maps and wording were required.
The plan met the basic conditions for a referendum but, first, Brighton and Hove City Council must publish a “decision statement” before putting the plan to a referendum.
A draft version of the plan has been included in papers going before a special meeting of Brighton and Hove City Council’s Culture, Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Economic Development Committee.
The committee is expected to recommend that the council puts the plan out to a public vote in a referendum.
If more than half of those voting in a referendum backed the plan, it would come into force as part of the set of planning policies against which planning applications are decided.
Once the plan comes into force, it would require 25 per cent of money raised through the community infrastructure levy to be spent within the neighbourhood by the parish council.
The Culture, Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Economic Development Committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 4pm next Friday (8 December). The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
Best wishes Rottingdean. The council that is so incompetent at running Brighton should have no say
Burne-Jones’s widow was a firebrand who not only got the Parish Council created but put out a banner in support of the Boers.
There will be behind closed door meetings, brown envelopes will show up and Rottingdean won’t stand a chance. Yourll get even more houses, more traffic, more pollution……Rottingdean R.I.P
Yet there it is a public meeting of a council committee considering a pre released report for anyone to read.
And then a referendum for the people of Rottingdean to be able to vote on the plan.
So yes super secret and behind closed doors!
All major decisions affecting the city should go to referendum.
They do, it’s called an election.
A referendum would cost around a quarter of a million pounds if run like a normal election with polling stations etc.
And define “major” when it comes to holding a referendum.
Still a great place and an escapefrom grimey Brighton. Don’t ruin it.
You mean don’t ruin it further…….the damage is already done.
Rottingdean will be the next Brighton at this rate
Waste of public funds doing a Neighbourhood Plan. Our village had one and the developers walked all over it. Our green space that was in our plan is now having 130 houses built on it. Sadly not worth the paper they are printed on!
Rottingdean, Saltdean & Ovingdean should band together and declare UDI from Brighton & Hove CC.
Very different demographic from the inner city, and they deserve so much better.
It’s very hard to move an area from one council to another let alone create a new one.
The latter won’t happen as it would be far too small an area.
So it’s really a switch of them from BandH to Lewes and East Sussex and they may not want Rottingdean etc.
The grass isn’t always greener.