Nine new council flats proposed for derelict library site

The former Hollingbury Library could be demolished and redeveloped to create nine new council flats on the site.

An all-affordable residential development on Carden Hill, next to the The New Oak pub, if plans are approved.

The “derelict” former library was boarded up after Brighton and Hove City Council moved the public library into the Old Boat Corner community centre in 2017.

In its application to redevelop the site, the council says the building is contaminated with asbestos and is considered “beyond restoration”.

The development would be car-free, with a mix of five two-bedroom and four one-bedroom flats on the site, which was earmarked for housing redevelopment in the council’s City Plan Part 1.

The planning statement says: “The project outcomes seek to provide a thermally comfortable, well lit, safe, secure, robust and enjoyable environment for residents with minimal ongoing maintenance.

“Design quality is key in achieving these aims.”

A pre-application consultation by MH Architects (MHA), appointed by the council, took place from February to May this year, which ended up reducing the number of flats from 11.

The application states that the development will not have a wheelchair accessible unit because of steep gradients on the site, and flats on the upper floors would only be accessible by stairs.

The planning statement says: “A view was taken by the client that they have over-provided wheelchair accessible units elsewhere as part of their housing programme in more accessible environments.”

A parking survey also says that on-street parking is “ample” and that residents would have access to the cycle storage and an Electric Club car parking space, as well as the bus stop outside the site.

In the design, seven of the nine flats will have a private balcony or terrace area, and a communal roof garden kept in an allotment style will be created.

Low level lighting of the entrance paths and doors will be used. A cherry tree would be removed from the corner of the site if proposals are agreed, to be replaced by new tree planting.

You can read the full plans on the council’s planning portal using the reference BH2023/03253.