By Alistair Elliott

The national builder, McCarthy and Stone applied last year to Brighton and Hove Council to demolish 5 family homes in Old London Road Patcham and replace them and their gardens with a large block of 44 flats providing ‘assisted living’ for the frail elderly. In January the Council's Planning Committee unanimously turned down the planning application. The developer has appealed to the Planning Inspectorate for a decision. A public inquiry by the Planning Inspectorate will take place at Brighton Town Hall over 4 days from 13 to 16 June 2017. Typically the Inspector announces their decision 10 weeks after the inquiry so we should know the outcome by late August 2017. All comments on the development that people have made to the local council have been passed to the Planning Inspector. An inquiry is not a court of law, but the proceedings often seem to be quite similar. The Council will explain their grounds for turning down the planning application and McCarthy and Stone will seek to persuade the Inspector why they believe the development should be permitted. The developer plans to call 8 expert witnesses and the Council plan to call 6 expert witnesses to support their case. Members of the public can attend the inquiry and can ask to be allowed to speak. The Inspector will also do a site visit. The decision of the Planning Inspectorate is final and will determine what this popular road will look like for the next few decades. Both sides have set out their ‘statement of case’. McCarthy and Stone say ‘Evidence will be provided that shows that the appeal scheme would by reason of its appearance and design fits harmoniously into its context in respect of scale, height, mass and the character and appearance of the surrounding area….so that it would not impact upon neighbouring amenity.’
There is hope. Last year the Planning Inspectorate turned down another application by McCarthy and Stone for an assisted living development in Horsham saying ‘It is concluded that the proposed development would detract from the character and appearance of the surrounding area’. The Council has to pay its own costs for the inquiry and a further wait for a decision until August causes prolonged stress for the residents directly affected. The application was first publicly announced in March 2016 so it would mean 18 months of uncertainty and anxiety. Last time the developer appealed to the Planning Inspectorate about an application on this site, they withdrew their appeal prior to the hearing. We hope that the developer will consider the comments of Councillors at the Planning Committee and the wishes of the overwhelming majority of the local community and withdraw their current appeal. In January the Chief Executive Officer of McCarthy and Stone gave shares worth over £1.25 million to his wife. This company has ample financial resources and if they proceed with the appeal we expect the Planning Inspectorate to hold them to a higher standard than that shown by the application they have submitted, and for the developer to respect the planning policies of the local Council and the National Planning Policy Framework. alistair.elliott1@ntlworld.com www.protectpatcham.co.uk