Dozens of council flats could be built in place of a community centre, old garages and a hard court play area.
Brighton and Hove City Council has submitted a planning application to build 28 homes in two blocks of flats, each three storeys high, in Portslade.
And next week the council’s Planning Committee is due to decide whether to grant planning permission for the scheme which includes a new community centre.
The scheme is expected to cost more than £10 million and, if approved and built, the homes are expected to be let to people on the council’s housing register.
A report to the Planning Committee is in favour of the scheme, subject to a number of conditions and legal agreements.
The council said that the existing Portslade Village Centre, formerly known as the Courthope Centre, was an outdated 1960s building with a “challenging” layout and in need of significant modernisation.
Twenty-six objections have been sent to the council and four comments in support of the plans.
Objectors criticised the design for being out of keeping with Portslade Old Village and said that there was too little parking and not enough community space.
An anonymous objector, whose details were redacted by the council, said: “Please do not destroy the few green spaces that the people living in the existing flats have to sit outside in.
“Many of the green spaces are very steep so can’t be used, though they were probably counted as existing leisure areas. The area is very much used by residents, except in winter.”
Another anonymous objector, whose details were also redacted, said: “The character of the conservation area of Portslade Old Village will be affected negatively.
“The Village Centre is a community facility with outdoor space which serves more people in the wider community than the development would.”
Supporters highlighted the need for affordable housing. One anonymous supporter said: “There is a desperate need for affordable and available housing in the area and the use of brownfield sites like this is the best available option as far as I can see.
“The plans also look like they’ve been drafted in a fairly sensitive way to the surrounding area.”
Another anonymous supporter said: “There is an acute shortage of housing and the area this is redeveloping is sorely underused and it is derelict in its current condition.
“There is ample parking in Windlesham Close and for people to pick up their children at school. I’ve never once had an issue parking virtually directly in front of my house.”
The plans are part of the council’s New Homes for Neighbourhoods programme.
The Planning Committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 2pm on Wednesday 5 June. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
I’m always concerned when I hear of a loss of a community space, especially when there is housing replacing it, which will need eventually…community space. Seems to me it would be beneficial to add this in to the initial plan.