Developers and planners held a postmortem over past clashes and resolved to improve communication.

Head of planning strategy at Brighton and Hove City Council Rob Fraser was quizzed at a meeting of the Sussex Property Alliance (SPA).

Developers discussed how to maintain better channels of communication so both sides could limit the time and money spent to turn schemes into bricks and mortar.

Mr Fraser said: “Inevitably we will, from time to time, disagree on the best options for a site. But we welcome the positive aspects that development brings to the city.

“It is clear that the impacts of the recession are still being felt by the development industry and that the restriction on funding is the greatest hurdle to new major developments and that many smaller developments are being funded by private funding not institutional funds and this will impact on how quickly the development industry in the city can recover to full capacity.”

He also explained how changes in the Greater Brighton City Deal – a £170m investment from government and private industry to help drive the area’s ‘tech cluster’ – would mean a better and closer working relationship with neighbouring areas such as Lewes, Mid Sussex, Shoreham and Worthing.

Chris Gilbert, property developers QED Estates, told of his experience at Richardson’s Yard in the New England Quarter, converting shipping containers into low-cost residential units.

He said initial concerns had been overcome through a collaborative rather than confrontational approach, and called for a return to “old fashioned” planning applications, where developers would meet planners and negotiate until an agreement was reached.

The Open Market, Co-op Building in London Road, Circus Street, Royal Sussex County Hospital, the American Express Community Stadium and the New England Quarter were highlighted as examples of huge development and big input from planners.

Steve Berrett, partner at Michael Jones, said: “The significant outcome from the meeting was a commitment to try to keep informal communication lines open by Mr Fraser encouraging planners from Brighton and Hove to attend SPA meetings in the future, an invitation that will be extended to planners in neighbouring authorities”.

The Sussex Property Alliance is a platform for property professionals to network, exchange ideas and build business relationships.

It was created in partnership with Michael Jones Estate Agents, Carpenter Box Chartered Accountants, Jelf Insurance Brokers and Bennett Griffin Solicitors.