Agenda item - Public Questions

Written Questions: to receive any questions submitted by the due date of 12 noon on 1 February 2017.

107.1    Ms Sophia Passmore asked the following question:

“What safeguards are in place, when a mixed-use development has been granted, to ensure that that employment floorspace is viable and socially responsible to the community in which it is built?”

107.2    The Chair gave the following response:

“When determining planning applications for mixed-use development, the council as local planning authority will take into account the appropriate planning policies set out in the National Planning Policy Framework and the Development Plan, which includes the Brighton & Hove City Plan Part One and the saved policies in the Brighton & Hove Local Plan. 

These policies encourage mixed-use development and the retention of employment uses on existing sites.  Planning policies also require new development to be acceptable or to mitigate its impact on its surroundings including design, amenity of neighbours, transport implications and sustainability.

In addition, the views of the council’s economic development team on the viability of employment floorspace in mixed-use development proposals are taken into consideration when determining planning applications.

If the developer considers that the employment use is not viable after permission has been granted and intends to change the use, a planning permission would normally be required, depending on the proposed use, and the Planning Authority would need to consider viability again at that stage.  Any amenity considerations would be taken into account on any change of use.”

107.3    Ms Sophia Passmore asked the following supplementary question:

“What safeguards are in place in the Shoreham Harbour Joint Area Action Plan (JAAP) area to ensure that once a development has been completed and employment spaces remain empty, in some cases for over a year, the community could use?”

107.4    The Chair agreed to provide a written response after the meeting, which would be circulated in the minutes, as set out below:

              “A community use of vacant office space would require planning permission.  A planning application for such a change of use would be assessed against planning policy.

There is no specific policy in the JAAP that addresses this. Policy CP5 Culture and Tourism of the Brighton & Hove City Plan Part One would however apply to the part of the JAAP area that lies within Brighton & Hove.  CP5 criterion 6 states “The Council will support the temporary use of vacant commercial buildings for creative industries, arts and cultural sector”. The granting of temporary permission would allow the use to be used for its authorised employment use in the future.  It should be noted that whilst such proposals may be supported it falls outside the planning system to ‘require’ owners of vacant commercial space to facilitate such use.”