Plans for Brighton Marina

5:20pm Thursday 28th August 2008

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A blueprint for the future of Brighton Marina is being drawn up.

Brighton and Hove City Council agreed in March to controversial guidelines for the development of the area, which is expected to see up to 3,200 new residents in the next decade.

But the document was not legally binding and planners are working on strict guidelines builders will have to meet.

The master plan will set out basic rules for redevelopment of the marina and could include demands for better open spaces, specify the number or type of homes to be built and lay down necessary improvements to transport.

The document will not deal with current planning applications.

In June, a meeting at the marina was interrupted by members of the public anxious to have their voices heard, and ended inconclusively.

Stakeholders including marina businesses, resident groups, emergency services, disabled representatives, wildlife groups, developers and landowners have been consulted on the broad principles of the plan.

And the next phase, scheduled for this autumn, will give everyone else the opportunity to share their views, said the council. A meeting in September, run by an independent party, will be open to all.

A six-week consultation on the supplementary planning document will include exhibitions and a website.

The council said it understood concerns of residents living near the marina about tall buildings, overdevelopment and traffic.

Council leader Mary Mears said: “Residents’ views are absolutely crucial to the development of the marina.

“By working together, I am confident we can create a thriving, growing marina which everyone can enjoy.”

The current document, which was agreed despite residents’ protests in March, details a vision of a marina with 2,000 new homes, shops, parks, GP surgeries and a primary school.

The document includes guidelines for Brighton Marina, Black Rock and the former gasworks site.

Brunswick Developments has already received planning permission for the south-western corner, which will include 853 flats, shops and leisure space. The company has also submitted a new planning application for a hotel on the western breakwater but both schemes are on hold.

Explore Living has applied to put up almost 1,300 inner harbour flats, including a 28-storey building.

The Black Rock project includes an indoor events arena with two Olympic-size ice rinks and 111 flats.

A building of more than six storeys could be built on the former British Gas site.

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