The Round Hill Society

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Crescent Rd-Belton Rd Open Space

Developer: Just Developments Ltd

Address: 28/28B Crescent Road

Description:  Prior Approval Change of Use - Prior approval for change of use from offices (B1) to residential (C3) to form 5no self contained flats.

The need to act

The strip of land between rear gardens to the east of Belton Road and the west of Crescent Road is very narrow i.e. not much wider than an average-sized residential street including the pavements.

The crux, on which BH2014/00841 is likely to be decided, is whether the proposal fits the legal definition of "permitted development".

If our Council supports the developer's unreasonable assumption that the proposal meets the terms of the "permitted development right" (introduced by the government in May 2013), other green spaces which we value in our conservation area are likely to be degraded in the anticipation that they too are acceptable as building sites. Residents would then be similarly limited in the concerns which the Council can respond to. Please use/circulate the documents below & help to stop the erosion of any green space on private land within what we are told is a conservation area.

Application BH2014/00841

This new proposal (otherwise identical to application BH2014/00124 which would have been recommended for REFUSAL) uses the loophole of permitted development to replace a withdrawn application which a planning committee would probably have turned down.

The loophole is being used to prevent residents adversely affected from commenting on nearly all of their key concerns. None of the following concerns can be used as objections to "permitted development":

[1] overdevelopment of a small open space offering visual & environmental benefits to 30+ existing homes already tightly packed together.

[2] several instances of very unreasonable overlooking & loss of privacy,

[3] ugly design unsympathetic to conservation area. Note that the Council's Conservation Advisory Group did recommend refusal of the identical application.

[4] inadequate service provision for five homes (e.g. inaccessible refuse store located far from street collection point).

The crux, on which BH2014/00841 is likely to be decided, is whether the proposal fits the legal definition of "permitted development".

IF - the Council judges application BH2014/00841 to meet the terms of the new permitted development right
AND - the Council is satisfied with the proposal merely on the three counts A,B,C (given below),
THEN - the Council is obliged to grant it.

The Council's info to affected residents

Developer: Just Developments Ltd

Address: 28/28B Crescent Road

Description:  Prior Approval Change of Use - Prior approval for change of use from offices (B1) to residential (C3) to form 5no self contained flats.

The local authority (Brighton and Hove City Council) is required to consider only the following three impacts of the proposal:

1. Transport and highways impacts of the development
2. Contamination risks on the site; and
3. Flooding risks on the site

Consideration cannot be given to any other matter raised.