Urban village would boost town centre

Brighton and Hove Council is likely to endorse a planning brief for the largely-derelict land next to the main railway station.

Proposed uses include housing, a hotel, a training centre, space for jobs and a supermarket.

The brief says development should be as green as possible.

Opponents, led by BUDD (Brighton Urban Design and Development), say the supermarket will attract traffic and take trade away from London Road.

But the Brighton Town Centre Business Forum has given its full support to the brief.

Town centre manager Tony Mernagh said: "Something must be done with a site that has been derelict for far too long. We believe it will complement the town centre and London Road.

"Action must take place quickly. The economy is turning and the window of opportunity is closing."

Mr Mernagh said that opponents were concentrating on the supermarket which would occupy only a tenth of the site and were not looking at the scheme as a whole.

He added: "The scheme needs an engine to drive it, such as the supermarket. Unless people can come up with an alternative, we may have to accept it for the sake of the whole scheme."

Mr Mernagh said unemployment in Brighton and Hove was dropping but was still well above the regional average.

This scheme would provide hundreds of jobs, many of them well-paid, in a town with a low-wage economy.

He said the hotel next to the station was particularly welcome because it would provide space for conference delegates arriving by train.

Mr Mernagh added: "We want these delegates but we don't want their cars."

He said opponents had to realise the site was not owned by the council but by Railtrack. The rail authorities did not have to do anything with it and had done nothing for 30 years."

Railtrack, Sainsbury's and other groups have combined to form the New England Consortium. It is likely to submit a planning application along the lines of the brief if councillors approve the document.