The council’s rural estate is in the South Downs National Park and is made up of over 5,200 hectares of farmland, nature reserve, and recreational space.
It was bought by The Brighton Corporation in the early 1900s to protect the town’s water supply and to control development.
The estate is within The Living Coast UNESCO Biosphere and is home to a large farming community.
Our role is to protect and enhance the land for future generations. We recognise the estate's ability to:
We have worked with residents, farmers, stakeholders, and community groups to produce the City Downland Estate Plan (CDEP).
It sets out our vision and aims for the next 100 years. We want to protect and improve this publicly owned estate by working closely with our tenant farmers and land managers, as well as community groups and other stakeholders.
The plan includes all the council’s agricultural estate, parks, leisure, sport and recreational land.
It links into the council’s climate change and biodiversity targets and commitments.
The plan was adopted by the council in December 2022 and endorsed by the South Downs National Park Authority in February 2023.