The North Laine Community Association calls upon Brighton and Hove City Council to refuse plans put forward to redevelop the City College campus.

The plans are for a new eight-storey college building on the existing car park, a ten-storey block containing 442 beds for students on the tower site and a six-storey (or higher) development for 125 residential units on the east side of Pelham Street.

This has the potential to greatly affect the quality of life of the residents of North Laine and the character of the area.

The construction phase will last at least four years, with piling lasting more than 20 weeks.

The impact on local residents of the noise and dust will make the lives of those who live close by intolerable. Local residents may have to leave as residents who live near the London Road Coop development have had to.

The development is too dense, too high and is out of scale with the surrounding conservation area.

The excessive scale, massing and bulk of this development will dominate the skyline to the north of much of North Laine. This development is much closer to North Laine than the current tower and will appear more imposing, especially as the demolished tower (12 storeys) will be replaced by a denser ten-storey building.

This development will loom large over North Laine and will appear as an obtrusive and alien element. It will increase late night noise in North Laine. Late night noise might be anything from groups talking loudly to shouting, arguing and sometimes fighting.

With Brighton having a lively late-night economy, it is naive to think students who have just left home will not take advantage of it. It is almost expected of them.

The proposals have the potential to change North Laine dramatically. Older owner occupiers are already moving out due to late night noise and antisocial behaviour.

Nearby developments at the London Road Co-op, the former Buxton’s in Oxford Street and Circus Street will add about 1,280 students to the area. You cannot add 1,280 students to an area without that area changing in character.

One of the features of North Laine is its diversity of people – there is a range of ages and types of householder, with most streets having young families with children, working couples, students and retired people. In any one street there will be social housing, council houses, rented homes and private households.

This application will upset that balance with implications for the city.

Peter Crowhurst, Kensington Place, Brighton