Talks are still taking place between the council and Royal Mail over farmland in Patcham that could be turned into a distribution depot.
But Brighton and Hove City Council said that the talks were commercially sensitive and would not say how much the Roya Mail might pay for a long lease.
The council entered into talks about a deal that would involve the Royal Mail building a distribution centre at Patcham Court Farm, in Vale Avenue, near the junction of the A23 and A27.
The deal would free up two existing sites for hundreds of homes – the Royal Mail premises in North Road, Brighton, and Denmark Villas, Hove.
The update emerged after questions from Conservative councillors Alistair McNair and Anne Meadows who represent Patcham and Hollingbury ward.
They have been campaigning against the Royal Mail plans which have attracted more than 1,000 objections.
Councillor McNair said: “We have been told that £8.84 million is expected from ‘Patcham Court Farm, King’s Road, Montague Place, HRA (housing revenue account) land transfers and some large lease re-gear payments on commercial sites.’
“The worry for those opposed to the sale of the lease and planning permission is that both will be decided by Labour councillors in cabinet and (on the Planning Committee) where they hold a significant majority.
“Labour do not seem to be interested in exploring other options for the site despite their predecessors’ helping to stop the sale in July 2022.
“Councillor Anne Meadows and I also wish Green councillors would be more publicly forthright in their opposition to the development although we acknowledge (Brighton Pavilion parliamentary candidate) Sian Berry’s clear opposition.”
In July 2022, while the Greens were running the council, they proposed the sale of a long lease to the Royal Mail but the opposition Labour and Conservative councillors objected.
Campaigners trying to stop the scheme have used social media to criticise the council for including the proceeds of a sale as part of the budget.
But the possible proceeds were listed as “potential capital receipts” in finance reports.
The council said: “Patcham Court Farm has not been sold. The site is currently the subject of an amended planning application, with full details on the council’s website and the planning register.
“A decision on the future of the site will be taken by the cabinet in due course.”
It’s not farmland, it’s a derelict contaminated old farmyard. I look forward to Royal mail developing it and cleaning it up.
Clearly you haven’t read the impacts to flooding, water supply, traffic, noise & light pollution & parking throughout Patcham. Naive at best.
It’s called progress
The motowy network
The mobile phone network
Airports
Broadband
Our of town shopping centres
More housing
All things people like YOU use, but probably campaign against
This will not be a Distribution Centre. It’s Brighton and Hove Delivery office’s combining to one site. There will be at least 500 people a day travelling and working on site and they will need parking which the site will not provide. It’s not environmentally friendly because all the Postman will then need to travel back into Brighton and Hove to complete thier rounds. The offices where they are currently based are fine. It’s just another money making exercise to develop the existing sites into housing.
Patrick you are so right. Royal Mail use and abuse their staff and if they get their hands on this valuable site they will abuse Patcham and threaten the drinking water for Hove and Brighton. Just look at Devon, look at Hastings, look at Surrey none will have had such dire effects as this development will have if the council don’t come to their senses!!
Not in your back yard eh?
The sites are antiquated . Do you think RM would go thru this if it were not necessary?
As for location. The mail has to come into the area first ,why not drop it off en route to Brighton first? A site on the outskirts bus perfect
So called ‘Patcham Guy’ if Royal Mail can’t look after their city centre real estate properly, how much trust can we place in them to safeguard an environmentally sensitive piece of land? It is a massive and costly risk to our city, especially with Patcham’s persistent flooding and sewage problems going on.
You may not be aware that Patcham Court Farm is part of our city’s main aquifer, it is a Source Protection Zone 1 which plays a key role in both groundwater absorption and tap water filtration. There was an act in Parliament 100 years ago to safeguard Patcham Court Farm and one would hope some of that wisdom remains today.
Someone also needs to point out that the site isn’t derelict there is a small business that operates there and there are lots of council-owned houses right on the edge of the proposed site that used to be the farm workers houses, the proposed industrial monstrosity will be hugely damaging to their health and wellbeing, or they could even be evicted from their homes to make way for a failing postal company.
There are lots of other possibilities for the land that could use low impact buildings. The council needs money, that is clear, but Royal Mail’s plan is far too risky, other altentives should be explored asap. What has also not been mentioned is that this whole bid is really about Royal Mail wanting to sell it’s city centre buildings to what will no doubt be a property developer who will want to create luxury apartments instead of the council and affordable homes we need. This is a story about an almost bankrupt council gambling the health of the city to try and earn some high-stakes funds in the short term. We cannot forget that Royal Mail is no longer a national treasure, it is company who treat its workers and customers with disdain, it is over 1bn in debt and now across the country it is chasing a profit by looking for asset stripping opportunities, Patcham Court Farm is just one of its lucrative chess pieces.
Looks like someone has worked themselves into a right tizzy
No Patcham guy firstly it is not derelict as a fencing company operates from there and secondly it houses Brighton’s protected aquifer which supplies water to the entirety of Brighton & Hove. For very good reason the land is only supposed to support office or very light industrial use BUT the greedy council wish to place a mega industrial depot on this extremely precious and vulnerable drinking water source in their greed for more high rise housing. Just how the city will be able to support all these extra demands for drinking water the council is too stupid to consider. Just look what happened in Devon, just look at what happened in Hastings, just look and see what has just happened in Surrey because if the council in their stupidity permit this development you will just have to look in your very own kitchen!
It’s a Royal Mail sorting office not a “mega industrial depot” which fits in with light industrial use even though they won’t be making anything on the site.
Sadly this Jill woman is totally deluded and is a typical Nimby only cares about her property value. The kind of person that wants 5 bar mobile communication coverage, but doesn’t want a mast in her back yard . Using the term ‘mega’ is mis leading and The Green party are only hijacking the locals for votes in the upcoming general election
The site is perfect.
All traffic can enter and exit via A23/27
Has excellent location
RM will use mainly silent EV’s
Free up 2 city centre sites
Create local jobs
Safeguard and modernise the post system
The yokals may get their pitch forks out, but I bet once it opens ,they won’t even know it’s there.
Only HGVs are instructed not to use the local roads the 200 electric van fleet and the 3-400 staff cars will park off site and roads around Patcham and Westdene will be blocked which will cause considerable difficulties for emergency vehicles
Wrong.
So you think Patcham and Westdene will be littered with dormant Postman Pat vans???
Staff currently don’t and can’t park around the existing sites, so why would this be any different. If it were to be a problem then just put in a CPZ ?
For every problem there is a solution
Stop drinking the Royal Mail cool aid for a bit eh?
Make no mistake, this proposal is a massive change.
Patcham Court Farm is currently used for light industrial use, there is at least one small business there right now, but Royal Mail’s plan is wildly different. The council are considering changing the land to heavy industrial use to make way for this and it seems like they are happy to hand over a lease to Royal Mail knowing that Royal Mail could/will eventually sell or sublease this sensitive piece of land to another company down the line. Royal Mail and others will be in charge of our aquifer in effect.
Royal Mail are suggesting a multi-level distribution depot (NOT a sorting office) at Patcham Court Farm, that will tower over the heritage buildings, conservation area, and residential homes and operate 24hours a day. Royal Mail have already admitted that there will be HGV movements every hour of the day and night. This is not a friendly outbuilding for Postman Pat, it is an imposing and polluting monster.
If you work for Royal Mail (I used to) be aware that whistle blowers have said that Royal Mail are telling lies about the number of staff who would be relocated to Patcham because that number is a lot smaller than the teams in Hove and Brighton. So either they are lying to get their bid approved because they know the parking allocations, public transport and Patcham’s local infrastructure isn’t ready for hundreds of Royal Mail workers, or redundancies are planned.
Chris and Spud, whoever you are, i can only imagine you work for Royal Mail and have been encouraged to defend this bid, maybe someone’s offered you a re-location fee. I’ve been there, but I dont recognise what Royal Mail has become. It’s a grubby shambles right now and in truth I would like to see it re-nationalised.
North Road in particular is an unpleasant place to work so I can understand why you want to get out, but know this, if they move you to Patcham it will end up being the same, lack of maintenance, cutting corners to save costs and this time Royal Mail will be trashing an environmentally sensitive piece of land. Get out if you can. Funnily enough I;ve heard that the council have some good jobs that get you outside and that’s why i joined RM years ago.
Your exactly the kind of person that opposed the Amex on ‘beautiful downland’ next to the A27.
People like you hinder progress. Just let them get on with it, it’s derelict farm land next to 2 major trunk roads
Oh the lazy “you must work for them” attack.
I don’t work for Royal Mail.
No one has ‘encouraged’ (or really what you are implying is ‘threatened’) me to say anything in support of this application.
I live in the city so I’m allowed a view on this.
You can’t trust Royal Mail to deliver a letter, why on earth would the council even considering trusting them with a bit of land that’s environmentally sensitive and plays a role in the quality of the city’s water supply.
NB – posties are generally great and have been let down too – it’s Royal Mail’s senior managers who are profit hungry and have run the company into the ground for commercial reasons.
Note that the picture supplied by Royal Mail does not show any of the HGV lorries which will be arriving from Gatwick 24/7, causing noise and traffic problems. Just a couple of people strolling!
This development risks the drinking water supply to the whole of Brighton, it is not a ‘nimby’ issue.