Building heights in DA6 will be consistent with the Neighbourhood Plan vision of a high-density station quarter of an urban character compliant with City Plan Policy CP12, the accompanying Urban Design Framework SPD and Hove Station Area Masterplan. New tall buildings should have regard to and respect existing buildings and planning permissions already granted, taking account in particular of the key views illustrated in Figure 9 and from the Hove Station Conservation Area.
To the north of the railway taller buildings may be acceptable in locations that allow them to act as Hove Station Quarter landmarks and aid wayfinding.
Any redevelopment of the Goldstone Retail Park might include a higher building at the north eastern corner as long as there is visual permeability of the site when viewed from Hove Park.
To the south of the railway, development should take advantage of the lower topography by bringing forward taller buildings at occasional points within the area, as long as they are designed in such a way as to collectively minimise overshadowing and enable for good visual permeability north-south.
In the neighbourhood area outside DA6 new developments are expected to reflect the prevailing heights of surrounding buildings.
Reasons for this policy:
Reason: The Hove Station area has long been identified as one of the best nodes in the city for intensification through tall buildings. The Forum believes that this challenge should be welcome as an opportunity to create an exciting new high-rise townscape. The Forum does accept that the tests of SPG 15 need to be applied, however this should not be used as a carte blanche to resist high buildings per se.
The Forum was gratified to note that the high buildings proposal of the approved Hove Gardens scheme (1-3 Ellen Street), which includes a peak at 17 storeys, was well supported by the local community, by Hove Civic Society, Regency Society and the Hove Station Neighbourhood Forum, which demonstrates that high building, provided they are well designed, can carry substantial local support.
Outside the DA6 area the neighbourhood is primarily made up of mid to late Victorian properties of high density of 2 – 4 storey height and new developments need to conform to those heights in order to retain the integrity of the local townscape.
(Relationship to the City Plan: Policy CP12, page 188, sets out general expectations on heights of buildings. Hove Station area is one of those areas where buildings higher than 6 storeys (18m) are acceptable).
