Planning officers to recommend Meadow Vale planning application be refused

Brighton and Hove City Council planning officers are to recommend the controversial Meadow Vale Planning Application be refused.

THE APPLICATION is due to be considered by the Planning Committee of Brighton and Hove City Council on January 28.

Simon Kirby, Conservative MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, said he was “delighted” at the news.

He said: “As someone who has campaigned for a long time against this proposal I am obviously delighted that the application is recommended for refusal. This is a positive step forward and I encourage all members of the Planning Committee to listen to the recommendation.”

The MP has campaigned alongside the Save Our Deans campaign group to protect the site by organising a petition, speaking at a public meeting and lobbying the Council repeatedly.

Nancy Platts, Labour parliamentary candidate for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, says the Government’s changes to planning law in 2011 have made matters worse.

She said: “I have consistently opposed the development at Meadow Vale, which is causing huge concern to people living nearby, and I have worked hard to ensure that local voices are heard in this debate. 

“Conservative MP Simon Kirby voted in 2011 for a change in planning policy which means council planning committees now have to abide by a ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’. This has created a free-for-all in our countryside. It is a great shame that he did not think ahead to the local ramifications of voting for the new law in Parliament at the time.”

Mr Kirby concluded: “In the event that the Planning Committee does make the wrong decision and grants the application, I have already written to the Planning Minister asking for him to intervene and consider the case personally. I have always been clear that the proposed development at this site is completely inappropriate.

“It remains my belief that, to deliver new housing in the city, the council should be looking at brownfield sites and city centre sites, where the existing infrastructure is in place to support development.”