The Story So Far

iFirst Published: 24 Jun 2013   Updated: 18 Feb 2019    Comments Off on The Story So Far

November 14th 2012 Goldsmid Ward councillors called a second meeting for residents to discuss

  • the proposals being developed by MATSIM for the redevelopment of the bus garage and surrounding area and
  • the idea of preparing a Neighbourhood Plan for the area affected by this proposal.

Of the 70 plus residents who turned up from the few streets leafleted close to Conway Street over 30 signed up to join a Forum to take forward this idea. The Forum has since met three times – 6 December, 15 January and 6 February

We developed an action plan for January to March 2013 which would enable the Forum to broaden it membership and get organised  to  formally designated as the responsible body for preparing a Neighbourhood Plan – a plan led by the local community

  •  The publication and approval by the Council of the City Plan in January focussed attention on the whole issue of Hove Station Development Area 6 – known as DA6
  •  The need to involve a wider area became apparent , so for this Have Your Say day we leafleted the five neighbourhoods that are immediately adjacent  to DA 6
  • The boundary shown for the area we leafleted is not a fixed boundary – we need time and inputs from local people and businesses to help decide where the boundary of the Neighbourhood Plan should be draw
  •  We have established an effective working relationship with the city planners who are responsible for taking forward the detailed planning of DA6
  •   We have secured some free planning consultancy services from Locality, as part of the government scheme Supporting Communities and Neighbourhoods in Planning – which provides professional planning assistance for communities who want to develop a neighbourhood plan. Professor Mike Gibson, a planner and Fonthill Road resident, has been appointed by Locality to provide us with support.
  •   We are working towards  making an application to the Council for them to approve

– the designation of the HOVE STATION NEIGHBOURHOODS FORUM as a ‘QUALIFYING BODY’  that is a body which is has the right to develop a statutory Neighbourhood Plan  – for this we need a constitution, membership rules , chair, secretary, treasurer etc

– the designation of the BOUNDARY OF THE AREA FOR OUR NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN – this needs very careful consideration as there will inevitably be a range of opinions