Brighton council grants Royal Mail leasehold in Patcham

The cabinet at Brighton and Hove City Council has approved to grant a leasehold of the site at Patcham Court Farm at a meeting this afternoon.

The lease will be for a term of 250 years of the site to Royal Mail for the provision of a 4,145sqm delivery office.

This comes after more than 1,000 objections have been raised to the planning application since its submission in July 2022. The planning application was granted in September.

One of the protest signs on a resident's property (Image: Ramy Abou-Setta / The Argus) Objections came from residents and representatives of Brighton and Hove Wildlife Forum, the Brighton Society, Patcham and Hollingbury Conservation Association and Patcham Local History Group.

Residents in Patcham have been campaigning fiercely against the scheme and have called for it to be scrapped.

They have warned of the impact the hub could have on the city’s water supply, the effect it would have on the environment and traffic in the village.

The property was part of a wider agricultural holding that was separated from the main farm by the construction of the A27. Currently one building is used by a fencing company while the others been vacant for some years.

Due to the slope of the land, at its highest point the new building would be around 10.6m high when measured from ground level but would decrease significantly in height relative to the ground level as it extends further north.

Sewage flooded a bus stop outside Jasmine Court in Patcham (Image: Rebecca Kimber) The main building will be approximately 82m long and 52m wide at its widest part. Planned ancillary buildings include a wash bay and a vehicle light maintenance facility.

Road access would be to the south west of the site from Vale Avenue. An access road would lead to two main car parks providing 85 spaces for staff vehicles and 132 for Royal Mail fleet vehicles.

The building is planned to be in use 24 hours a day with most staff arriving for a 7.15am start. The busiest hour for fleet vehicles leaving the site would be between 10am and 11am and the busiest hour for their return would be between 3pm and 4pm. It is expected that the delivery centre would provide 360 jobs, with 246 staff on site on an average day.