Stricter student house rules, more protection for green spaces and making streets easier to get around for disabled people are among the policies up for discussion in Coldean’s first neighbourhood plan.
Once finalised, the plan will be used to help the council decide planning applications.
Prepared by members of the Coldean Neighbourhood Forum, it includes a design guide and policies which aim to protect and enhance local green spaces and promote sustainable transport. The plan also seeks to manage the number of houses in multiple occupation.
Councillor Alison Thomson, chair of the Planning Committee, said: “Neighbourhood Plans play a major role in helping to determine the outcome of planning applications, and give local people the opportunity to take a lead in planning the future of their area.
“I would urge Coldean residents to take part in this consultation and help to shape the future of their community – for now and for future generations.”
Coldean was formally designated as a neighbourhood area and neighbourhood forum by the council and the South Downs National Park Authority in 2021.
Since then, members of the Neighbourhood Forum have been preparing the draft plan, in line with the Government’s Neighbourhood Planning regulations, and consulting with residents and stakeholders.
A public consultation in 2024 resulted in some amendments to the draft plan following input from residents.
The current draft plan has been submitted to the council, along with supporting documents and evidence. Its policies must align with City Plan Part 1 and 2, The South Downs Local Plan and those within the National Policy Planning Framework (NPPF).
Following the consultation, the council will submit the draft plan, along with all the responses received, to an independent examiner who will consider whether the plan meets all the necessary statutory requirements.
Based on the examiner’s report, the council will then decide whether to put the neighbourhood plan to a local referendum.
If approved, it will be formally ‘made’ and the policies used to help decide the outcome of planning applications in the Coldean area.
Members of the public can view all the consultation documents and submit comments on the council’s website here.
A Word version of the survey form is available on request by emailing neighbourhoodplanning@brighton-hove.gov.uk
The consultation closes on 4 December.
It’s too late now but it’s an interesting thought experiment wondering what Brighton would look like now if transport/housing policy had been dictated by the council taxpaying residents rather than by Bricycles/sustrans and the universities.
Standing by for ageist insults…
That’s exactly what neighbourhood planning forums are for. Many people use HMOs not just students, the Coldean plan recognises that everyone including students are residents, but a balance is needed, to prevent the area being ghettoised for any particular demographic.
I think Neighbour Plans serve a purpose, but get your point that this is coming about after the horse has bolted in many ways. There’s not enough environmental protections built into national planning legislation and current planning systems don’t effectively allow communities an effective say in local planning decisions.
Sadly, irrespective of any local plans agreed, the changes being pushed through nationally by the Labour government to cut ‘red tape’ when it comes to planning legislation, will serve to reduce genuine community say further and erode environmental protections too. Steve Reed the Lab Minister leading the charge even went so far as to mimick Trump at the recent Party conference wearing red hats saying ‘Build Baby Build’. In addition to making clear she doesn’t care about nature by her “bats and newts comment” she also said ““Our pro-growth planning bill shows we are serious about cutting red tape to get Britain building again, backing the builders not the blockers to speed up projects and show investors that we are a country that gets spades in the ground and our economy growing” .
National planning legislation tend to trump any local plans and considerations, so while I applaud residents for working together on this piece of work, I do worry that nationally, we’re seeing the erosion of many environmental protections under this government which threatens to undermine local plans and considerations.