Hove residents voted in favour of the Hove Station Neighbourhood Plan for a new Hove Station Quarter by a margin of more than ten to one last night, Friday 10 February.
Mike Gibson said: “This decisive result gives the Hove Station Neighbourhood Forum a clear mandate to continue working with the local community to deliver the Neighbourhood Plan vision of a new Hove Station Quarter.
“The result entitles the community to benefit from local investment of developer contributions (s.106 and CIL) to deliver improvements in the neighbourhood environment.
“It strengthens the case for the delivery of community priorities including a higher level of affordable housing, street tree-planting and effective traffic management required by the continuing growth of our neighbourhood.”
Since voting ‘yes’ last night, the council will be legally required to allocate 25% of developer contributions (CIL) from these future projects to improve the area. Developer contributions will be invested in improvements to parks, pavements, roads, shopping areas etc. These contributions will run into hundreds of thousands of pounds in the next few years.
The Forum seeks to force concessions from the developers about, for example, the height of the new blocks in the new Hove Station Quarter. It also seeks to enforce the agreement with the council to ban parking permits for the new influx of tenants.
Hove Station Quarter referendum is the final stage in the approval of the developments. This plan has been prepared over eight years by the Hove Station Neighbourhood Forum. It’s an independent group of volunteer residents from across the political spectrum, whose purpose is to get the best for the area and the people who live there.
Councillor Trevor Muten said: “I am pleased to see so many local residents engaged with this democratic process with a clear majority of voters choosing to support the Hove Station Neighbourhood Plan in this local referendum.
“As a Goldsmid Ward councillor, I am very much looking forward to working alongside residents of the Hove Station neighbourhood to help deliver the Hove Station Neighbourhood Plan, an important integral part of wider plans for our city.”
Turnout was just over 15% and 1,348 residents voted ‘Yes’ yesterday to the development of the Hove Station Quarter, compared with 102 who voted ‘No.’
This article was first published by Brighton and Hove News.