Four new blocks of flats in Hove approved

Developers were granted planning permission to demolish the existing buildings at the Court Farm House site at the top of King George VI Avenue and replace them with 69 units by Brighton and Hove City Council’s Planning Committee yesterday (Wednesday January 11).

The scheme will include a mixture of seven one-bed, 34 two-bed, and 28 three-bed homes as well as 107 car parking spaces and 132 cycle parking spaces.

The site overlooks Toad’s Hole Valley where hundreds more homes are planned along with shops, workspaces, community buildings, and a school.

Several councillors raised safety concerns, but the application was approved.

Architects for the scheme Conran and Partners said: “Court Farm House is the initial phase of one of the largest open sites allocated for development within the council’s City Plan.

“The council has acknowledged that the scheme’s 40 per cent affordable housing component is not visually distinctive or separate from the private market units and will be built to the same high standards of design and quality.

“The imaginative and sensitive design is configured as four separate buildings of three to four storeys, arranged around a series of open, green courtyard spaces.”

Although the site faces the South Downs National Park, a report to councillors said that the site would not have an adverse landscape impact.

Lee Davies, Conran partner and project director, said: “We believe we have set a high standard of design for this very important and prominent site that will act as a catalyst for the wider development of Toad’s Hole Valley in the future.

“Our design is appropriate in scale to the site and seeks to minimise the impact on views from the South Downs.

“It also represents a landmark building on this important gateway site and will deliver much-needed housing on the city’s urban fringe.”

Mike Holland, chief executive of the site’s owner Thornton Properties, said: “The council’s decision recognises the high quality of the scheme which responds successfully to the challenges of the site.

“I am confident that the sensitive redevelopment of Court House Farm – and the much-needed new housing it will offer – will help to transform this significant site on the edge of the South Downs.”