Stewart Derwent is quite right to say that brownfield sites should be developed ahead of green spaces (Letters, March 14).

The council’s draft City Plan does just that, having included an updated, detailed assessment of housing land availability within its target of 11,300 new homes by 2030.

The big difference is that, whereas previously the council was able to successfully pursue a planning policy of managed growth, now, under the Conservative Government’s new Planning Framework, all councils have to adhere to a policy of “a presumption in favour of development”.

It is this framework that the council’s plan is being measured against with the planning inspector’s request that the target for new homes is increased to nearer 20,000.

To help achieve that number, all unprotected green spaces on the city’s urban fringe are to be reviewed for development potential, a review that could include sports pitches and even cemeteries.

Ultimately spatial planning is all about balance. We need jobs, transport, education and green space to support people living in any new housing. With a scarcity of city-centre sites and now the green fringe of the city under review, that balance gets harder to achieve.

Councillor Gill Mitchell, deputy leader of the Labour and Co-operative Group, Brighton and Hove City Council