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 out 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.
Public Engagement Process (UPDATE)
Stage 1 of the public engagement process has now closed, however submissions to the ‘Your Contributions’ section on this page can continue to be made.
We’ve had a fantastic response from the wider community in Brighton & Hove during stage 1. Here are some of the ways people have been getting involved:
- 5 online discussion groups, attended by over 400 people
- 2 webinars attended by over 120 people
- 3100+ views/opinions/ideas recorded from the discussion groups/webinars/online portal/Quick polls
- 80 detailed submissions added to ‘Your contributions’ on the interactive web page
All of the information put forward in stage 1 will be collated by our public engagement consultants (Planning For Real). We will be publishing this here on our web pages for everyone to see the breadth of opinions and ideas that have been made. Paper copies will also be available on request.
The Next Stage
The aim of the next stage is to produce a proposal for the draft City Downland Estate Plan and to use the views/opinions/ideas that have been submitted in Stage 1 to inform and steer the process.
The proposal being created will include a vision for the future of the downland estate owned by the council, and the policy objectives that will achieve this.
To do this, we will be holding a ‘carousel’ event – created and facilitated by Planning For Real – on Friday 23rd April 2021. This will be an all day, online event (Zoom) and this will be an opportunity for the community to work with the council and co-create a collective agreement on the proposals.
The deadline for requesting a place at this event has now passed, however we will be live streaming the majority of the event for everyone to view. Details of how to access the livestream will be added here.
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
Public Engagement Stage 1 Analysis
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.
Webinar & Discussion Group Presentations
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?