City Plan Part 2 Proposed Submission Stage (2020)

Read our formal notice of submission and find more information about the plan.

Submission of the City Plan Part 2 for examination

The council submitted the Proposed Submission City Plan Part 2, together with the supporting documents, to the Secretary of State for examination on 13 May 2021, in accordance with Regulation 22 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.

Read the formal notice of submission, which sets out the availability of the submission documents for inspection. 

Find the submission documents and more information about the City Plan examination. 

Proposed Submission City Plan Part 2 - 2020

Consultation on the Proposed Submission City Plan Part 2 [PDF 7.53MB] ended on 30 October 2020 after an 8 week period. 

The Proposed Submission City Plan Part 2, was agreed at the virtual full council meeting on 23 April 2020. 

The plan supports the City Plan Part 1, (adopted in March 2016), which sets out the strategic planning framework for the city and includes citywide targets for new housing, employment and development management policies.  

Why we need City Plan Part 2

It’s important that the council has an up to date and robust set of planning policies to ensure greater local control over proposed developments in the city rather than using national planning policy which does not reflect the city’s unique and local character.

The plan will help to ensure that the right amount of development takes place in the right places and that allocated sites that come forward for new development are managed to secure the type of higher quality development that is needed in the city.

We are aware that the changes to the way the use of land is classified by the government came into force on 1 September after the council approved the plan. Further consideration will be given to the changes that will be required to certain City Plan Part 2 policies as a result. The government also published its Planning White Paper on 6 August proposing significant changes to plan making. Government guidance is clear that local planning authorities should continue to progress current local plans at the present time.

What development sites are allocated in the plan

The plan identifies more than 50 sites for housing or ‘mixed-use’ types of development. 

There are also 7 larger, strategic site allocations which support the much-needed regeneration of key brownfield sites in the city. They include the Brighton General Hospital site where the allocation includes provision for a new health hub alongside new housing and community facilities.

Other strategic sites include the Combined Engineering Depot on New England Road (housing and employment space), Land at Lyon Close, Hove (employment and housing), and the Sackville Trading Estate/Coal Yard site in Hove (housing, employment, retail and community facilities).

Setting out site allocations provides more local control over what is developed on these sites. This enables us to ensure they deliver the type of homes, jobs, business space, health and other local facilities that the city needs.

Why housing sites are being allocated in the city’s urban fringe

Although the vast majority of allocated sites (88%) are brownfield sites, 16 of the allocated sites for housing are on urban fringe sites around the city’s edges.

When the City Plan Part 1 was examined in 2013, the Inspector instructed the council to plan much more positively to meet as much of the city’s full housing need as possible and ‘to leave no stone unturned’. The 13,200 new homes minimum housing target set out in the Part 1 plan only meets 44% of the city’s fully assessed housing need (which was assessed at the time as 30,000 in 2015).

This means that some sites on the urban fringe will need to be allocated through the Part 2 Plan. The proposed sites account for 7% of the city’s urban fringe which means that the vast majority of these spaces will continue to be strongly protected.

By allocating these sites and setting out clear requirements, the plan can ensure that development delivers homes the city needs. This includes genuinely affordable and family sized homes that meet ambitious sustainability standards. It also ensures that developments provide new open space.

Benfield Valley is an important green wedge connecting the urban area in the south northwards to the National Park. A ‘special area’ policy for Benfield Valley and its designation as a Local Green Space, will ensure long-term management, maintenance and improvement of the valley’s open spaces and the historic Benfield barn. The policy allows for a modest development of 100 homes within a small area of the valley but will prevent unacceptable large-scale development on the land.

Other policies CPP2 contains

There are 58 policies in the City Plan Part 2. The majority provide detailed development management guidance including:

  • for new residential developments, improving housing quality, choice and mix including an emphasis on affordable housing (Policy DM1)
  • encouraging the development of high quality specialist housing and accommodation for older people (Policy DM4)
  • additional policy to address concerns about houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) (Policy DM7)
  • allowing for a broader range of town centre uses in recognition of changes to high street retail (Policy DM12)
  • new policies that recognise the important role of community facilities, pubs, markets and local shops (Policies DM9, DM10 and DM13)
  • ensuring that all new development is attractive and well designed (Policies DM18-DM21)
  • protecting the extensive and varied built heritage of the city ensuring that new development in historic settings contributes positively to its sensitive context (Policies DM26-32)
  • supporting zero-exhaust emission vehicles, electric vehicle charging points in new developments and improved walking and cycling networks for the city (Policies DM33 and DM36) 
  • seeking biodiversity improvements through new development (Policy DM37)
  • requiring sustainable drainage in new development to improve flood resilience (Policy DM43)
  • requiring stringent standards to meet our objective of carbon neutrality by 2030 and extending eco-friendly standards to all development (Policy DM44)

City Plan Part 2 supporting documents

The following documents support the City Plan Part 2 and were also published as part of the proposed submission consultation in 2020:

Proposed changes to the policies map

The maps show the changes to the adopted policies map that would result from the policies in the emerging plan. This includes site allocations and any new or amended designations. A description of the proposed changes are set out in Appendix 6 of the Proposed Submission City Plan Part 2.  

We have also produced an interactive CPP2 policies map (updated 25 April 2020). Users can enter a specific address and view any policies or allocations in proximity. Map layers can be turned on and off by clicking the layer icon on the top right of the screen, second from right.

Proposed CPP2 Implementation and Monitoring Targets (PDF, 530KB) – sets out the proposed monitoring indicators and targets and identifies how the CPP2 will be implemented. It is proposed that these monitoring targets will be included in an updated Annex 1 to the CPP1 which will be updated at adoption.

Statement of Consultation (3.6MB)  and its Appendix 4 (PDF, 4MB) provides information on how organisations, groups and individuals were consulted on the draft City Plan Part 2 (July to September 2018) and how the consultation responses helped shape the Proposed Submission CPP2 (updated 25 April 2020).

Sustainability Appraisal (SA) (PDF, 29.5MB)  updated 25 April 2020 – the SA considers all the likely significant effects that the draft City Plan Part 2 may have on various environmental, economic and social factors and incorporates the requirements of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive. To inform the Proposed Submission CPP2, the SA has re-tested the suitability of site allocations, has assessed the revised policies, and has led to a series of amendments to a number of the Proposed Submission CPP2 policies. There is also a non-technical summary of the Sustainability Appraisal (PDF 400KB) available updated 25 April 2020.

A Duty to Cooperate Update Paper (PDF, 1.17MB) has been prepared which sets out sets out how the Duty to Cooperate has been considered and met in preparing the CPP2. 

Health and Equalities Impact Assessment (HEQIA) (PDF, 407KB) – updated 25 April 2020, has been undertaken to ensure the draft policies are coordinated to address equalities, health and wellbeing outcomes throughout the city. Changes to the policies in the Proposed Submission CPP2 have been reassessed against the health and equalities objectives.

Habitats Regulation Assessment – a Habitats Regulation Assessment has been carried out to establish if the CPP2 might have any likely significant effects on any European sites. The purpose of the HRA is to determine whether or not significant effects are likely and to suggest ways in which they could be avoided. The nature of changes to the Proposed Submission CPP2 did not require the HRA to be updated. HRA Screening Report (PDF, 18MB), Ashdown Forest Air Quality Impact Assessment (PDF,781KB), Natural England response to HRA consultation (PDF, 97KB).

Proposed submission City Plan Part 2 supporting evidence

Visit the examination library for the latest list of supporting evidence and updated topic papers which were submitted with the City Plan Part 2 for examination in May 2021.

The following background evidence and topic papers were published in September 2020 alongside the Proposed Submission City Plan Part 2 as part of the consultation.

Find other CPP2 background studies that were published at earlier stages of the CPP2 preparation (for example, Urban Fringe Further Assessments).