Application Reference BH2025/00264

You can find the full application here. https://planningapps.brighton-hove.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=SQWTHCDMGNI00&activeTab=summary You may  need to seach for application, the reference is BH2025/00264.

The Application deadline for responses is currently  4 March 2025

Comments can be submitted here https://planningapps.brighton-hove.gov.uk/online-applications/login.jsp  You will need to Register on the Planning Portal to comment. 

Here are some paragraphs you can cut and paste into the comments page on the Planning Portal.

HOW TO OBJECT TO BC’S LATEST PLANNING APPLICATION BY EMAIL

The council will approve an application unless there are good planning reasons to refuse it. By law, the Council can only take certain matters into account. Raising other issues is therefore a waste of time, as are petitions (count as only one objection). 

Send an email with your objections to Planning.Applications@brighton-hove.gov.uk

On all correspondence, you must quote:

• PLANNING APPLICATION REFERENCE: BH2025/00264 and make it clear if you OBJECT, SUPPORT or are making a COMMENT. 

• Every individual must object or support a planning application to have their opinion counted, even if they are in the same household.

• You must include your address in the email for your comments to be taken into account.

• If you live, work or regularly travel around the area, SAY SO, e.g. ‘I live in Walpole Terrace and the school traffic and parking greatly inconvenience me and my family daily.’ and/or ‘I work at the hospital and am very concerned about public access, particularly for emergency vehicles’, and/or ‘We live in this conversation area and are already affected by the noise and disruption from Brighton College’.

• Say WHY and HOW the planning application will negatively impact you.  Below are some relevant objections to this planning application.  Copy and paste any or all of the issues that are relevant and important to you.  And if you have the time, do submit comments in your own words and add to any of the points.  

Brighton College’s proposal does not comply with the National Planning Policy Framework, or the Brighton and Hove City Plan because:

This proposal will increase traffic congestion and conflicts with Policy CP9 (Sustainable Transport)

• Policy CP9 requires new developments to reduce car dependency, support public transport and ensure safe pedestrian and cycle access.  This proposal increases traffic pressure due to increased drop offs/pick ups at St Mary’s Hall, additional boarding students requiring very large coaches, and inadequate mitigation measures for parking and transport demand.  Additional delivery traffic will cause severe disruptions in narrow, residential areas ill-equipped for high-volume service vehicles. This proposal increases traffic congestion and carbon emissions in an already pressured urban area.

This proposal will aggravate existing residential parking problems

• Residential parking is already under strain.  Higher car and coach usage will place yet more pressure on limited parking spaces.   A boarding house on Walpole Road just moves all the traffic and parking problems down Eastern Road, around the hospital and those residential streets.

This proposal will block Bristol Gate and emergency services (conflicting with City Plan Policies TR4, TR7 and NPPF Paragraph 111)

• The proposed exit opposite the Brighton Trauma Centre’s main entrance risks obstructing emergency vehicles and compromises patient care and response times.

This proposal will risk pedestrians’ safety (insufficient walking and cycling infrastructure, contradicting City Plan Policy CP13)

• The increase of 150 boarding students will create substantial foot traffic along Eastern Road and Walpole Road, both of which have limited pavement space. It will be dangerous for young children to walk around the St Mary’s Hall site.

This proposal fundamentally changes Conservation Areas and conflicts with Policies CP15, DM26 and DM29 in the City Plan.

The College Conservation Area

• The College Conservation Area is protected as a residential area.  A 24-hour, seven- day-a-week boarding house for 150 teenagers directly contradicts this.  This is one of the reasons why Brighton College’s appeal to put more boarders in three houses in Walpole Road FAILED.

• The noise and activity from 150 more teenagers living on Walpole Road will negatively affect local residents.  A noise assessment for the new boarding house, paid for Brighton College, complies with NPPF in relation to noise.  But the Inspector from the Secretary of State was not convinced by the noise assessment for Walpole Road, with far fewer students.

• The Inspectorate also placed significant weight on maintaining a balance of housing types referencing local planning policies CPP1 SA6, CPP2 DM20 in this respect. “But amongst other things, Policy SA6 of Brighton & Hove City Plan Part One, March 2016 (CPP1) seeks to maintain balanced neighbourhoods and communities that meet the needs of all residents and Policy DM20 of Brighton & Hove City Plan Part Two, October 2022 (CPP2) refers to the cohesiveness of Conservation Areas.”(p.3) This lack of concern is also evident in this application.  It is clear that Brighton College prioritizes its own expansion above the balance and cohesion of the neighbourhood in which it is located.

The East Cliff Conservation Area (St. Mary’s Hall site)

• The East Cliff Conservation Area is protected and the proposal to build a new Prep School does NOT preserve and enhance heritage assets, including a Grade II listed flint wall and other nearby heritage assets such as the fragment of a Victorian terrace at the south-western corner.  It also changes the visual character of the site.

This proposal lacks sustainability and does not properly consider environmental factors

• The National Planning Policy Framework emphasizes sustainable development, yet this proposal has no detailed strategy for addressing increased waste, pollution, or carbon emissions from the expansion.

• Policy CP16 and DM38 protects important green spaces, including school playing fields.  This proposal results in a net loss of 624 sq metres of school playing field at the St. Mary’s Hall site.

• The proposed buildings are overbearing in bulk, with insufficient open areas and are inappropriate to their neighbours on both sites. The buildings will diminish access to natural light, increase overlooking and infringe on residential privacy, particularly for residents on Belle Vue Gardens.

• The NPPF promotes genuine biodiversity enhancement.  This proposal fails to demonstrate substantial on-site ecological benefits beyond minimal policy compliance.

This proposal lacks demonstrable public benefit to outweigh its harms

• The City Plan’s strategic vision prioritises community-led development. Brighton College argues that the new proposed boarding house helps reduce pressure on local housing stock, i.e. BC will stop buying it for boarders.  But this DOES NOT justify the loss of open space and the traffic and transport impacts.  

This proposal risks chalk dissolution and subsidence

• The Ground Investigation Report (Appendix 4) does not provide sufficient clarity on the protection of nearby buildings, including listed structures on Eastern Road.  Concentrated infiltration into the chalk may erode natural fissures, leading to sinkholes, foundation settlement, or structural damage over time.

This proposal does not adequately address surface water management and structural concerns

• The St Mary’s Hall site slopes toward existing structures, and the Grade II listed retaining wall along Eastern Road may be at risk from prolonged water exposure. The drainage plan acknowledges that some pipes are surcharged or at flood risk, raising concerns that overflows or blockages could lead to surface water accumulation, further increasing subsidence risks.

And if you forget an issue or find out more about the application and more valid objections, you can always email again!  Deadline for comments is currently Tuesday 4 March, so get your opinions in as soon as you can.