Homes to be built on the driveway near Southern Cross, Portslade Brighton News

The site is next to St Nicholas Primary School (Church of England) in Locks Hill and close to Brackenbury Primary School.

The land was once the driveway to a villa known as Greenways, which was demolished and replaced by a building of the same name in the 1970s.

South Portslade Labor councilor Les Hamilton spoke out against the request when the planning committee met on Wednesday.

Illustration of Greenways Drive that was presented to the planning committee

He said: “These buildings – called sheds by some residents – will be detrimental to the Portslade Conservation Area.

“The smallness of the site excludes access to vehicles. There is no vehicular access to these properties, just bicycle and pedestrian access. How construction will proceed is unclear.

Councilor Hamilton was concerned about how emergency vehicles would reach properties from Locks Hill.

Mr Jennings’ agent, Joseph Pearson, of Lewis and Co Planning, said the site was unconventional but the designs were in line with natural features.

The site where the houses will be built

He said: ‘The new houses are semi-detached houses built to a high standard. They will be produced offsite and assembled onsite so that the construction process is much faster and less disruptive to neighbors.

Union Councilor Daniel Yates was excited about the project and hoped to see similar developments in other parts of the city.

He said, “I love it. I think this is an incredibly innovative set of proposals. We need to start changing the narrative around development in this city.

“It’s starting to show, even in the most difficult and constrained sites, we can still find ways to provide suitable accommodation.”

What the houses might look like once built

Conservative Councilor Carol Theobald was the only one to vote against granting planning permission. She said: “I think it’s going a bit too far, building on a driveway.

“The places are so far away. I think emergency services and garbage are a problem – and parking.

Green Councilor Marianna Ebel dismissed concerns about emergency access to the site because other homes had different access issues.

She said: ‘We would have to turn down all high rise buildings because you can’t park on the 15th floor. You need time to get up there.

“It’s accessible. People can access the houses so I see no reason to deny it. It’s a big use of space and we need housing.