PLANS for up to 380 new homes on a golf course have been revealed to the public.

The redevelopment of Benfield Valley Golf Course in Hangleton, Hove, by Bouygues Development was unveiled at an exhibition at the Hangleton Manor pub yesterday.

Dawn Barnett, Conservative councillor for Hangleton and Knoll, admitted there was a need for housing, but said: “We just don’t have the infrastructure to accommodate these proposals – that’s what everybody is saying.

“I just don’t think it’s a viable option. We don’t have the roads, we don’t have the NHS dentists, we don’t have the schools to cope with nearly 400 houses – that’s at least 800 more people including their families.

“It’s far too much for this area. This is a bungalow area and there’s talk of four-storey buildings– and it’s not going to be local people living in these houses. They will be priced out, and we’ll still need the social housing for the people of Brighton and Hove.”

The proposals will be amended and put to Brighton and Hove City Council before Christmas and Nicolas Guérin, managing director of Bouygues Development, expects a decision by March.

He said: “We have invited residents from around Benfield Valley to a public exhibition to discuss the potential of increasing the amount of publicly accessible green space, improving its quality and accessibility, giving new and better access routes to the Downs, as well as using 30% of the site to create ecological homes to help meet the local community’s housing needs.

“There are no fixed proposals at this stage and the purpose of the exhibition is to work with the community to ensure that any development that does happen on the site benefits local people.”

Mike Cherry, 68, of Meads Avenue, Hangleton, was also against the plans.

He said: “We went through this about four years ago when they wanted to build hotels and restaurants on there and I still have the council papers to say nothing could be built on the land for at least 20 years.”

Residents' views

IAN Farrell, 65, of nearby Farnway Close, used to play golf on the course, and said it needed to be used better.

He added: “I admire the use of the space in the plans, and if it was affordable housing for the youngsters of Brighton and Hove then I would support it, but I don’t think that’s going to be the case.
“And the plans for four-storey houses don’t feel right to me either.”

VALERIE Axcell, who lives in Sylvester Way, which backs on to the golf course, regularly feeds badgers in her garden and she is concerned about the impact the development would have on the wildlife.

She said: “We’ve chucked out three of these proposals already and we want this one out too.
“Wildlife has already declined dramatically in the area in recent years, and this will only add to the problem. We should be protecting the environment, not destroying it.”