If like us, you think this St William Berkeley Group application is unacceptable, please make your voice heard. It Will make a difference.

How to submit an objection

• Click on the links above to see a short and long list of objections that AGHAST has compiled. We will be posting our objection submission soon.

• It’s best to compose your own letter or email, but if you don’t have time or don’t feel confident, you can use our objection letter template to create a personalised objection letter.

• Letters of objection should be sent to Liz Hobden, Head of Planning, City Development & Regeneration, Brighton & Hove City Council, Hove Town Hall, Norton Road, Hove, BN3 3BQ, quoting reference BH2021/04167

• Alternatively you can send an email with your comments on the application to planning.applications@brighton-hove.gov.uk quoting reference BH2021/04167
  It helps to copy and paste your comments in an email directly to Members of the Planning Committee in case they don’t see all of the comments in the online portal. You can find the Members of the Planning Committee and their email addresses here: Brighton & Hove council planning commitee contact details

• If you require a street representative to help you with your objection letter, or to collect a letter for postage, please email: protestforbrightongasworks@gmail.com

The deadline for submitting your objections has been extended to 21st January

What other Brighton groups think about the St William Berkeley Group application:

https://www.kemptown-society.org.uk/latest-news/brighton-gasworks-submission/

https://www.brighton-society.org.uk/gasworks-planning-application-preview/

If you would like to help with the campaign please let us know at protestforbrightongasworks@gmail.com

Summary of objections 19.12.21

The Health and Safety of East Brighton Residents

The height and bulk of the proposed buildings will maximise the risk of deep excavations into contaminated ground to build foundations.

Decontamination procedures have been effectively excluded from the planning application. Berkeley Group is asking for approval without any detailed proposals for how they will remediate the heavily contaminated site, which they want to be approved as a condition afterwards. If this is allowed to happen, it will severely compromise the control the Council could exercise over these critical decontamination issues.

Decontamination proposals must be considered as an integral part of the planning approval process and be fully transparent - not decided behind closed doors afterwards.

The development of gasworks sites for residential purposes are of such concern that an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has been formed to look into it.

A breach of The City Plan policy

The City Plan does not include the Gasworks site within an area of the City where Tall Buildings (over 6 storeys) are permitted. The St William Berkeley Group proposal includes 11 building elements which range from 7 - 12 storeys and these buildings occupy two thirds of the entire built area. This represents a massive breach of policy.

Causing harm to our heritage assets

The Berkeley Group’s proposal for a densely packed conglomeration of tall blocks will completely dominate its surroundings by its sheer size, height, scale, density and massing.

National Planning Policy (NPPF) requires local authorities to identify heritage assets and consider the impact on them, to minimise any conflict between them and any aspect of the proposal. A new development on the Gasworks site should be of first class architectural quality and respect the height, scale, and character of the surrounding heritage assets the whole length of Marine Parade, from Brighton Piers in the west through to Roedean School in the east.

The site is situated to the south and west of the South Downs National Park. This excessive conglomeration of tall buildings will damage views from Downs, and towards the Downs, negatively impacting the enjoyment of this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Ignoring the needs and preferences of the East Brighton community

When asked how East Brighton could be improved, the most popular responses were:

• No tall buildings

• Additional local amenities

• Making the area more joined up

• Increase social and affordable housing

Ninety percent of the planned 553 dwellings will be two or less bedrooms, appealing to foreign investors and those looking to invest in holiday flats.

There is no commitment to affordable housing in the plan. If approval is granted there is a high likelihood that the developer will then claim it isn’t viable to include affordable housing. We’ve seen this happen on other recent large proposals.

Traffic, Pollution, Parking and Infrastructure

There will be further disruption to the congested A259 heritage seafront road from additional traffic generated by the proposal both during construction and in its completed state.

There will also be further disruption to Eastern Road and the adjacent roads including Kemp Town Estates, which are already at capacity in peak times.

The additional volume of public and private vehicle usage will lead to an increase in pollution levels.