Campaigners fighting Royal Mail’s planning application to build its new depot in Patcham have asked for the application to be called in by the Secretary of State.

Brighton and Hove City Council’s Planning Committee agreed to be “minded to grant” the application subject to planning agreements after three hours of deliberations on Wednesday, September 4.

Patcham resident Paul Mannix has submitted the request to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, deputy Prime Minster Angela Rayner.

By calling in the application Mr Mannix has to put together a “statement of case”.

During the process the Planning Inspectorate will review the application and all accompanying documents and plans before publishing a report.

Mr Mannix, who has dressed up as “Mr Poop” for protest, has been campaigning on fixing the raw sewage flooding Patcham’s streets and the risk that the Royal Mail’s now granted planning permission will make that much worse.

On Thursday, a day after the council's decision, heavy rain brought flooding throughout the village, angering campaigners who highlighted the flooding issues to the planning committee.

He said: “I was shocked and appalled at the planning committee yesterday at Hove Town Hall.

“The chair gave much more time to the Royal Mail speakers when asked questions by local councillors and then refused to give locals more than 30 seconds to answer councillors’ questions.

“The chair ran roughshod over all the evidence that locals provided and overall discrepancies in the Royal Mail’s surveys.

“It is clear from the council’s behaviour that they are willing to risk the safety of Brighton’s tap water because they want Royal Mail’s money for the council-owned Patcham Court Farm.

“The council are selling off the family silver cheaply and the current two depots do not threaten the tap water safety city-wide.

“The Patcham Royal Mail depot if built threatens the tap water with contamination for 139,000 properties across the city both at the time of construction and in operation.”

There are four grounds for the call-in:

1. Changes to the National Planning Policy Framework will require more housing in Brighton and Hove and the council should build social housing on the land rather than lease it to a private company.

2. The application may have significant long-term impact on economic growth and meeting housing needs across a wider area than a single local authority as Brighton and Hove has housed homeless people in Eastbourne and Newhaven.

3. The application has national security concerns as the Labour government has just called in the sale of the Royal Mail to Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky for possible links to Russia and the site of the application is a very sensitive site because it sits on the Patcham Aquifer that gives Brighton its tap water.

4. The application raises significant architectural and urban design issues as the site of Patcham Court Farm is in an Area Of Outstanding National Beauty and is designated by Brighton and Hove City Council as a green buffer zone for the Patcham Village residential heritage conservation area which contains a significant number of listed buildings and monuments.