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.
How you can get involved!
Have Your Say
Your opinion, knowledge and ideas are extremely important to us so we can produce an inclusive, well informed City Downland Estate Plan.
Stage 1 of the engagement process has been running since November 2020 and will come to a close on Friday 19th March 2021, but there is still time to have your view registered!
You can do this by…..
- Completing a survey using the ‘Consultation Portal’ box on the right-hand side of this page. The consultation is divided into four themes: Natural Systems, Land Use and Management, Climate Change, and Cultural. We would encourage you to complete all four of these, but you can also choose to answer only those that cover your area of interest
- Emailing us at citydownlandestateplan@brighton-hove.gov.uk(External link) with your views
- Create an account on this website to share stories and participate in the discussions through the ‘Your Contributions’ and/or ‘Discussion’ sections at the bottom of this page
Stage 2 - All day ‘Carousel’ session
- A chance to work alongside council officers/members and other interested people/groups to co—create a proposal for the vision and policies that will achieve this, to be considered for the draft City Downland Estate Plan
- The group will use all the views and opinions registered from the discussion groups, the consultation portal, the forum on this page and emails collated from stage 1. This will enable everyone present to see the breadth of ideas/views put forward and also the frequency in which they have been suggested
- Online session run by Planning for Real
- Date and attendance for this session to be confirmed
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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Organic, Agroecological Food Production
Brighton CSA- Fork and Dig It contributes it’s view to The Downland Estate consultation.
Brighton and Hove have been awarded the Gold Sustainable Food Place award recently so it would be incredible if we could be national leaders in starting the conversion of more land ie, The Downland Estate to organic status. This only take 3 years and is a process Stanmer Organics (sadly only 17 acres) began back in 2005, achieving Soil Association accreditation since 2008.
Brighton CSA- Fork and Dig It are based on 2 acres of Stanmer Organics land, a beacon of good practise and inspiration for... Continue reading
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UPDATED MAPS Of Brighton's Downland Estate
These maps are the first in a growing public resource that will be added to over time, published now to inform Brighton City Council's WEP (Whole Estate Plan) public consultation of 2020-2021. They are based on information which has been held in paper form for many years made available for the first time as interactive digital maps. >>Access Interactive Maps Here<<
The suite of maps fall into four natural groupings.
BHCC Land Assets & Individual Farms
Overlaying those two maps you will see that individual Brighton Council let Downland farms often correspond to distinct land units in Brighton Council's ownership... Continue reading
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N oise Pollution
Members of SERA, The Socialist Environment and Resources Association, think that the opportunity to find peacefulness should be a priority for those walking on the downs. Although the South Downs National Park is one of the most heavily visited areas in the UK it is still possible to come upon unspoilt places with a timeless sense of tranquillity and space. There are also areas with no light pollution from the city where abundant stars and sometimes showers of meteors, can be seen in areas of dark night skies.
Quietness is essential for taking the opportunity to collect thoughts, get in... Continue reading
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All new developments in BHCC
Please make the houses at least 90% energy efficient and protect nature. -
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Pesticide free downs
The downs are indeed very beautiful and since living in Moulscoomb for over 10 years I have got to know my local area very well. The downs back onto the estate in a very steep slope, and thr connecting fields I see have the use of pesticides. This saddens me, for all the knowledge we have on how detrimental to human existence, wildlife and nature as a whole, you would hope as residents we could do something about this.
I know this would mean a radical overhaul of how our farmers work, but surely our health and the health of... Continue reading
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Moutain biking
Me and my son moutain bike around the area it keeps us fit and gives us so much enjoyment . I find it disturbing that walkers complain about mountain bikersWe do not complain about walkers but trust me there are some horrible walkers out there !!
The countryside should be enjoyed by all without prejudice and moutain bikers need a place to enjoy as well as anyone else
It would be great if there was more support for mountain biking . It’s grown massively and we have only just taken up the sport
It’s an amazing way to keep... Continue reading
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Benfield Valley Nature Reserve
Benfield Valley Local Nature Reserve is the last green lung in Brighton and Hove that links Hangleton and Portslade to the South Downs yet it is under threat to building development. Benfield Valley has already been sited as an area of importance which makes it even more baffling that this area has even been considered as a housing development site.
Supporting both deciduous woodland and chalk grassland this site is not only a hub for wildlife, but an important greenspace for locals too. Benfield Valley is situated in a deprived area where locals are already limited to accessible greenspace. This... Continue reading
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Footpaths to the downs, signs and crossings over A27
FOOTPATHS TO THE DOWNS, SIGNS and CROSSINGS
Members of the Socialist and Environment Resources Association (SERA) are keen to encourage the people of Brighton and Hove to experience the enjoyment of exploring the downs which belong to them. There are many FOOTPATHS leading from the city into the National Park, such as the one through Ladies Mile Nature Reserve, but these are not always easy to find. It is also important that the paths should be suitable for wheelchairs and scooters for the disabled.
We urge the Council to make clear maps of all these paths.
Foot path across Ladies... Continue reading
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Brighton Downs Alliance Key Points and Principles for the City Downland Estate Plan
Brighton Downs Alliance (BDA)
We are a group of organisations, experts & community, campaigning for the fairer, sustainably managed & accessible public Downs of Brighton & Hove (B&H):
Beacon Hub, Rottingdean; Benfield Valley Project; Brighton Active Travel; B&H Archaeological Society; B&H Food Partnership; B&H Friends of the Earth; B&H Wildlife Forum; Butterfly Conservation Sussex Branch; Coldean Community Organisation; Campaign to Protect Rural England Sussex; Extinction Rebellion Brighton; Friends of Hollingdean Park; Friends of Waterhall; Friends of Whitehawk Hill, Keep Our Downs Public; Keep the Ridge Green; Moulsecoomb Forest Garden & Wildlife Project; Royal Agricultural University (NR); South Downs Society; Stanmer... Continue reading
