I would like to clarify that the site being put forward for housing development in Ovingdean (The Argus, February 27 and March 12, with reaction in Letters on March 14) is not sponsored or being promoted by the council. This is despite what the applicant has said on its website.

To be clear: the Meadow Vale site is privately-owned, not council-owned.

Further, the proposals being taken forward by a private developer do not include the playing fields of Longhill School. The only urban fringe site being promoted by the council through the City Plan is Toad’s Hole Valley.

At the public examination on the City Plan last year the council sought to protect this site from development because it is one of the few green spaces between built-up areas and the South Downs National Park.

Despite our argument, the Government-appointed inspector directed the council to look again “under every stone”.

The inspector has said we need 20,000 new homes by 2030. As a result we are obliged to weigh up the extent to which sites like that in Ovingdean might contribute to meeting the housing the city needs while taking account of the city’s need for open space, nature conservation and land for allotments.

As ever, we will consider any planning application on its merits and take into account planning policies and the views of the community.

The Government’s national planning policy framework means that if there is no substantial argument against development, there will be an assumption in favour of development. This is a deeply worrying precedent for us but it is the reason that we are here.

Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty, chair of the planning committee, Brighton and Hove City Council