City Downland Estate Plan - Have Your Say
Brighton & Hove’s rural estate is made up of around 12,800 acres of land in the South Downs National Park. You can read about our City Downland Estate Plan on the council website.
Together with residents we are developing a new vision for this valuable asset in the city. It is a unique opportunity to explore how we can use this land to help tackle the climate and biodiversity emergencies and reduce carbon emissions.
Creation of the City Downland Estate Plan – UPDATE
The second consultation on the draft City Downland Estate Plan (CDEP) has now closed. Thank you to everyone that took the time to contribute to this. The ideas and feedback supplied by this have been compiled and considered by the project team for the next draft of the plan. The report showing the compiled results is available on this page, in the ‘Public Engagement’ section, on the right hand side.
Next Steps
The majority of the work to create the plan has now been done, with residents, interested groups, partner organisations, council officers and members all having now contributed to the evolving and improving the plan. We are therefore in the final stages of preparing the City Downland Estate Plan to go to the council’s Policy & Resources committee in December 2022.
As a part of the process for South Downs National Parks Authority (SDNPA) to endorse the plan as a Whole Estate Plan, their members are currently considering the most up to date draft for final suggestions. Once received, these final suggestions will be considered for inclusion/amendments, before the plan is submitted for the December 2022 BHCC Policy & Resources committee, where we will be seeking this to become an approved policy document.
Once approved, work will then commence on implementing the plan and we will pass the approved plan to SDNPA to become an endorsed Whole Estate Plan (scheduled for Feb 23).
Thank you for your ongoing interest in the City Downland Estate Plan. If you have any questions on the above, please contact us at citydownlandestateplan@brighton-hove.gov.uk.
Your Contributions
Please share with us any of your work or projects on the South Downs and share your stories with us
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Land-management
The Ecological Land Cooperative (ELC) is an established, community benefit society and membership organisation open to all based in Brighton.
The ELC develops affordable, low impact, small farms for new entrant farmers to ecological agriculture.
We want to see a living, working countryside where land is accessible to everyone and affordable for those who want a low impact land-based livelihood, using natural inputs to grow good, healthy local food and produce that benefits people, communities and the natural environment long into the future.The ELC model for creating affordable, ecological small farms has been proven with permanent planning permission for... Continue reading
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Speakout Link Group meeting 25/3/21 - Notes
(Subnitted on behalf of the Speakout Link Group)
What the group liked about the countryside- Going out for drives
- Going there for peace
- Seeing the animals (horses & sheep)
- The chance to grow things and socialise (good example if Moulsecoomb Forest Garden)
Getting there
- Most people do not have access to a car. It’s difficult to get into the countryside without a car
- Buses are confusing and not regular enough
- Up at Devils Dyke, bus times are not clear. The timetables are confusing
- If you have mobility issues and don’t have a car, getting to the countryside (IE through difficult... Continue reading
Draft City Downland Estate Plan
The Vision
Audit Information
A Brighton Landscape by Kim Wilkie
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Landscape architect Kim Wilkie presents his Vision of A Brighton Landscape - his view on what the City Downland Estate could look like in 100 years’ time.
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To accompany the video presentation of ‘A Brighton Landscape’ from Kim Wilkie, the following is a recording of a question and answer session between Kim and representatives from Savills which we hope provides more insight into his work and the rationale behind his thinking.
Public Engagement Stage 1 (Archive)
Webinar & Discussion Group Presentations
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Presentation Documents
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CDEP Webinar - Project update and next steps (1.1 MB) (pdf)
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Presentation of results of consultation so far 20.02.2021 (7.06 MB) (pdf)
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Chat Log Analysis 19.02.2021 (550 KB) (pdf)
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Keith Arnott (Savills) Presentation (8.05 MB) (pdf)
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Nick Heasman (SDNPA) Slides on the Whole Estate Plan (632 KB) (pdf)
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CDEP Update for share-holders 29.09.2021 (189 KB) (pdf)
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DAP sessions slides 29.09.2021 (148 KB) (pdf)
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PFR CDEP outputs and vision presentation (2.88 MB) (pdf)
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Frequently Asked Questions
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FAQ's
- Does the process extend to buying additional land for example to link up habitats?
- How could we maintain the chalk grassland habitat and prevent scrub from taking over?
- Can the amount of arable cultivation be reduced?
- How much of the estate can be given back to nature through rewildling?
- What is being done to address pollution by nitrates (nitrogen based fertilisers) of the water / aquifer?
- What is a nitrate vulnerable zone?
- Can the amount of chalk grassland be increased?
- What can be done to bring in organic or other forms of sustainable farming?
- How much carbon does chalk grassland store (sequester) – more or less than the equivalent area of woodland?
- What is regenerative farming?
- What is regenerative farming? How can BHCC specify the type of farming that is carried out by tenant farmers on its estate (for example organic, regenerative)?
- How can the Downland Estate be made easier to access across the A27?
- Is there scope for further tree planting or is the plan more about habitat (mainly chalk grassland) restoration?
- Does the Downland Estate make a surplus, break even or a loss at present?
- Are there any plans for housing or commercial development in the Downland Estate?
- How many tenant farmers are there and what are the terms of their leases?
- How long do the leases of the tenant farmers run for?
- What surveys / evidence / research are you basing your decisions on?
- How can cycle access be improved / managed?
- What measures are tenant farmers currently undertaking to improve wildlife natural habitats?
- What initiatives are there to engage children and young people in the Downland Estate at present?
- Can scrub also have value for wildlife?
- What types of renewable energy production are being considered for the Downland Estate – if any?
- How can the community be more involved as volunteers?
- What if any of the produce from Downland Estate farms is sold locally?
- How can conflicts between dog walkers, farmers, cyclists and other visitors be better managed?
- What other groups are involved in developing the WEP?
- What are the proposed changes to the EU farm subsidies post Brexit and how might that impact on the WEP?
- What is the potential for the current areas of open access land be extended?
- How is chalk grassland comparable with rainforest as a natural habitat?