A six-storey block of flats is recommended for approval on a site where a five-storey block already has planning permission.
Orchard Holdings (Hove) Ltd’s plan to build 42 flats over six floors at 65 Orchard Gardens, subject to agreement on affordable housing and developer payments towards employment strategy and transport.
Last April, the company – owned by Alfred Haagman, 64, Jonathan Bennett, 37, and David Lincoln Willis, 63 – was granted planning permission for a £14 million scheme consisting of 36 flats.
Both schemes include space for two commercial units and 25 parking spaces.
The site is currently occupied by Portslade Panelworks.
The application is due to before Brighton and Hove City Council’s Planning Committee on Wednesday 6 March. It has received 104 objections.
Conservative councillor Ivan Lyons, who represents Westdene and Hove Park ward, has objected to the height of the block and the additional traffic generated by the scheme.
He said: “(It’s an) overdevelopment and out of keeping with the area if a sixth floor is granted.
“(It will have an) adverse effect on neighbours’ houses and gardens regarding light.”
Residents’ objections raise concerns about the height of the new building, loss of employment space and the impact of more traffic in the already busy area.
One objector, whose details were redacted by the council, said: “Another proposed high-rise development without the consideration of necessary amenities such as doctors’ surgeries, schools, etc.
“The flow of traffic in the area is already bad, with traffic at a standstill, polluting the atmosphere and everyone fighting for parking spaces.”
Another objector whose details were also redacted, said: “These flats being built are not ‘affordable’ housing and our area will be overwhelmed and services will be stretched.
“Parking is free in our road and already full with cars, vans, mobile homes left unattended for weeks. It is wrong to suggest that adequate parking for the flats is not required as people can walk or take the bus.”
Should the committee be minded to grant planning permission, then the head of planning will have the right to refuse permission if agreements are not reached by 24 September.
These are
- A commuted sum payment of £305,000 towards affordable housing in the city
- £11,600 contribution towards skills needs on-site, pre-employment training for new entrants to the industry on-site and apprentice placements
- Employment and training strategy
- Strategies for the demolition and construction phases
- A transport agreement securing Orchard Gardens and Nevill Road public realm improvements
The Planning Committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 2pm on Wednesday 6 March. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
Can ‘increased traffic’ actually be a valid reason to object to a development? By it’s very nature, more housing in a particular area will inevitably increase traffic.
Yes, increased traffic can be a reasonable objection to planning permission, especially if the proposed development is expected to significantly impact traffic flow, safety, or the local infrastructure; however, it just means it would be reasonable for the council to consider mitigating factors, such as local bus routes, and traffic management plans within citywide planning.
This area is already overwhelmingly crowded by people who live here. You will rarely see two car spaces on a controlled zones.
This will be a disaster and we are not even talking about the summer traffic and people.
It must be rejected from Quick Profit Developers who don’t live in Hove.
The traffic in this area is getting far worse. Pollution and parking is such an issue. The whole area is becoming a concrete jungle and feels claustrophobic. There are 3 schools in the area so when it’s the school run everything comes to a standstill, add more traffic where does it all end. Most importantly it is unnecessary considering we all ready have a huge unwanted development in sackville road.
Dugards next door must be rubbing their hands with glee – they’ve got a site with 6 times the area of this one.
And then KWICK FIT!!! An extension of Sackville Road development. I smell brown envelopes.
More traffic ????? Compared to what ??? The Gobi desert maybe, the existing traffic on that slot is more than housing will ever be
Nimbys
If traffic was a reason no additional flats would ever be built, but maybe all new flats should have no parking facilities and no car permits issued lol
Then they would have to walk, bus, cycle or get train, sounds like a good idea to me.
Great idea, originally based on said services in function and able to run on time,,,,, and train signals not defunct every week,,,, enough buses for the “extra” passengers,,, and staff to cover the 24 hours per days as would car drivers do,,,, I used to live in Germany….. I was getting ahead of myself, Berlin within the A10 ring, 1 monthly ticket covers all Transport within the ring all day every day,, I was dreaming again,,,,, maybe this could happen in the UK,,,, maybe experiment on a small village to start with,,,, or a tiny one,,, 10 houses 2 streets,, see how it goes.
The problem being is that not all professions can rely on public transport. A simple example is healthcare visitors for perinatal mothers-to-be. There are loads of jobs that rely on personal vehicles, so unfortunately, it doesn’t work.
Car haters can’t see cars are essential. So we all.buy cycles with a woven basket. And pay extortionate train prices. Buses in this area are a traffic issue. Perhaps let’s live in the forests up trees
The artists impression is not the current proposal! It is far bigger than this image shows!
It has also stretched the roads massively so, conveniently,cannot see how close this oversized development is to the houses in Orchard Gardens and Nevill Road.
36 flats with 25 car park space is hardly going to cause mayhem is it. Out of keeping with the area? It’s a dump, surly that’s a good thing it’s nothing like the mess that’s currently there. Talk about nimbyism
This is an over development for the area and 6 stories will set a precedent for other developers north of Old Shoreham Road which is as off now a residential area. What’s required are houses for families not high rise flats. Nevill Road already has one of the highest pollution levels in the city and with this and all the high rise flats south of Old Shoreham Road will only make this worse with consequent respiratory health problems. It’s an OVER DEVELOPMENT.
Yet another opportunistic, cynical, for profit weird looking anonymous block, apparently assembled without the involvement of a competent architect or anyone who cares about what it looks like or in any way fits in with the existing area. It’s a visual insult to the feel of that part of Hove.
We and following generations will have to live with that. Doesn’t anybody care about where live our daily lives looks like.
Why build intensively on in town brownfield sites when there is so much wasted green down land vacant?