Brighton Gasworks Proof

Delivering for Brighton & Hove

Berkeley

Group

are proud to be investing in the Brighton and Hove. We share the Council’s ambition to work together to create a better city for all.

At 2.02 hectares and bookended by East Brighton park and the South Downs National Park and the seafront, Brighton Gasworks represents one of the only remaining allocated brownfield sites in the City on which to make a significant contribution addressing to the city’s acute housing need without putting pressure on the countryside.

Redevelopment of this site will act as a catalyst for bringing new social good and economic activity to this eastern area of the City and support the city as a whole to

prosper. Designed with climate resilience and biodiversity gain in mind, our proposals offer high quality new housing and jobs, new walking and cycling connections, sustainable transport initiatives, environmental improvements and biodiversity net gains.

This booklet provides a summary of our vision and commitments at Brighton Gasworks, and some of our recent experience delivering other complex brownfield sites across the south east.

A community for everyone

Our vision is to foster a creative seaside community in East Brighton that inspires people to appreciate and nurture the natural landscape they live in.

More than just a collection of homes, it will become a thriving neighbourhood that supports people to live happy, healthy lives. With a commercial hub at its heart, both residential and employment uses will create a mixeduse neighbourhood character, sustainably regenerating this important brownfield site.

OUR PROPOSALS WOULD PROVIDE:

HEALTHY, ENERGY EFFICIENT NEW HOMES

495 1-4 bed new homes and a target to deliver 198 homes for Shared Ownership and Affordable Rent, subject to Homes England funding

2,791SQM

NEW USE

CLASS E FLOORSPACE

Providing opportunities for business uses, creatives and other community, leisure or retail uses creating of up to 195 FTE permanent jobs

NEW INCLUSIVE OUTDOOR SPACES

Opening up a closed off site with new public open space including children’s play areas, and communal gardens for community and food growing

CLIMATE RESPONSIVE DESIGN

Energy efficient new homes responding to the Councils net zero carbon targets, client resilient design and over 1,800% biodiversity net gain

SUSTAINABLE AND INCLUSIVE TRANSPORT INITIATIVES

Including 553 secure cycle spaces, a new Beryl BTN Bike hub, car clubs, new footpaths and cycle connections, and 178 electric car parking spaces

BOOSTING THE LOCAL ECONOMY

Including estimated £7.5m annual contribution to the local economy, £1.1m New Homes Bonus, over £1.1m annual additional council tax and business rates, and local procurement opportunities supporting the City’s circular economy

INDUSTRY TRAINING AND SKILLS

Average 270 jobs on site throughout construction alongside apprenticeships and other learning opportunities, supporting local skills and talent

A SENSE OF PLACE AND IDENTITY

New spaces and buildings that a site-specific identity, references the site’s history and context and contributes towards health and well-being, inclusion and social cohesion

Healthy, Safe, Energy Efficient New Homes

Boosting the supply of new homes is critical to allowing those who have grown up in Brighton, and those who have moved to Brighton such as for university or work, and want to stay to continue to call this city their home.

Over the past ten years over 15,000 households in Brighton & Hove have been left without a home that meets their need, meanwhile we are aware of the challenges the city faces in relation to conversion of traditional housing stock into HMOs, and the significant strain that temporary housing places on the Council’s budget. All of this demonstrates that the city needs to radically scale up housing delivery.

Delivering economic growth also requires a healthy housing market. Access to well located, good quality housing is key to retaining and attracting a talented workforce needed to support economic growth. Our proposed development’s contribution towards Brighton’s housing need has an important indirect factor in achieving the Council’s economic vision and objectives. Our proposals would deliver 495 new homes including 1, 2 and 3- bedroom apartments and 3-4-bedroom townhouses. This variety

Proposals for Brighton Gasworks:

is in direct response to the city’s huge variety of needs. 3- and 4- bed homes will allow families to grow or upsize, whilst the provision of smaller homes responds to the Council’s Local Plan which expects major developments sites within the city to deliver more apartments, allowing more people to own their own home.

Quality of these homes is key to promoting health and well-being. The Berkeley Group has built a reputation as a leading residential-led mixed-use developer. Our

approach is to build high-quality homes where people aspire to live and work. We do not have any standard property types or formats, and no two Berkeley Group developments are the same. Instead we work with the best architects to create unique designs that meet the needs for each site. The homes proposed at Brighton Gasworks will provide excellent living conditions with all homes from high quality communal and private amenity space, and high levels of daylight and sunlight.

private balcony or terrace to every home Communal gardens provide a variety of spaces for rest and relaxation and promote access to nature

to respond to new fire regulations

Working in partnership to unlock affordable homes

Gasworks sites bring with them significant viability challenges due to the legacy of their historic uses.

The sorts of challenges these sites face include demolition of existing gasholder bases and the remaining frame, decontamination and remediation, significant earthworks and removing below ground obstructions, and rationalising live gas equipment to free up land for redevelopment. Developing these sites is therefore very capital and programme intensive requiring large upfront investment many years before a pound of income is received.

As a consequence the District Valuation Service has independently reviewed and concluded on behalf of Brighton & Hove that it is not viable for the development by itself to fund any affordable housing without additional subsidy. However, we recognise that the Council has over 7000 households on its housing register and that affordability is an acute challenge in the city and we want to be part of the solution.

This is why we want to take an innovative approach to seeking to deliver affordable homes for Brighton & Hove by working in partnership with a Registered Provider, Brighton and Hove and with a registered provider with Homes England funding to support the delivery of affordable housing on this site. We have successfully adopted this approach elsewhere in the country.

Affordable housing grant in England can only be secured for new homes (outside of

London) that are not explicitly required in a Section 106 legal agreement (S106), so to make this a reality we are voluntarily offering to commit in the S106 to using ‘reasonable endeavours’ to sell homes to a registered provider with sufficient Homes England funding for use as affordable housing, and keeping the Council closely up to date with our progress along the way. Were we to be unsuccessful, a review mechanism would apply in the usual way.

To attract grant on this site we then need the next tranche of Government funding for affordable housing to be announced and to have been granted a planning permission and started the enabling works for the site to get it ready to build these homes within the next funding window.

When seeking this grant funding from Homes England we will be targeting 40% affordable housing – equating to 198 – of the homes

Our Proposals for Brighton Gasworks:

to be occupied as grant-funded affordable housing. Of these, 109 homes (55%) would be for Affordable Rent and 89 (45%) would be for Shared Ownership, in line with the Council’s Affordable Housing Brief. 10% of these homes would be affordable wheelchair user homes.

By virtue of falling into these national definitions of affordable housing all of these homes would be genuinely affordable and help to meet the needs of households who qualify for affordable housing.

The homes would be tenure blind in appearance, promoting balance, inclusion and equality amongst the community.

Creating social impact through jobs and skills

Brighton and Hove is a successful city with an educated population, a high proportion of young population, thriving business community and high levels of economic activity. But there are pockets of deprivation and unemployment, and communities are currently facing additional pressures from the cost of living crisis and reduced public sector budgets.

The neighbourhood around the site is struggling more economically than other parts of the city; with higher unemployment and deprivation, lower employment resilience, and a higher rate of residents without formal qualifications. Investment in the city is therefore more important than ever to deliver regeneration, growth and create new opportunities for local residents.

Against this backdrop, construction of the development will create an average of 270 construction jobs per year on site across the construction period and 387 jobs at its peak, providing opportunities from entry-level positions to highly skilled and specialised roles.

Construction of this development will provide important opportunities for local people to develop skills and enter careers in construction, including apprenticeships and work experience placements, alongside education initiatives such as school site visits.

At The Berkeley Group around 10% of our

employees are in ‘earn and learn’ positions, including on average 160 apprentices, and we are a proud signatory of The 5% club as a result of our commitment to 5% of Berkeley employees and our contractor workforce to be an apprentice, graduate or in formal training. These opportunities are particularly important in this part of the city where 21% of local people have no formal qualifications compared to 12% across the city.

Over the long-term, 2,791sqm of Use Class E floorspace will provide opportunities for business uses, creatives and other community, leisure or retail uses that will facilitate up to 195 full-time equivalent permanent jobs on the site and support the site’s activity throughout the week. In line with the site allocation, 2000sqm of this will be dedicated employment space for creatives and small businesses. Another 791sqm could be used for community, leisure or retail uses such as health uses, fitness studios or cafes which will broaden employment opportunities at the Site. We would draw your attention to our Economic Statement for more information.

Key Facts

• 2000sqm employment floorspace for local businesses and creatives

• 791sqm floorspace for community, leisure or retail

• Average 270 construction jobs on site per year

• Peak 387 construction jobs

• Up to 195 permanent full-time equivalent jobs

• An Employment and Skills Strategy to be agreed through the S106 agreement

• Apprenticeship and work experience placements

• Jobs that meet a range of skill-sets and sectors

Restoring the environment and responding to the climate crisis

The Berkeley Group aspire to be at the forefront of tackling climate change in the UK homebuilding industry. Our direct business operations are carbon neutral, we procure 100% renewable electricity in the UK and are the only homebuilder in the country to be awarded an A rating for Climate Action ad Transparency by CDP, the highest score possible.

In December 2020 we adopted a science based approach to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decades to ensure we play our part in limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. These targets cover our direct emissions, the embodied carbon within our supply chain, and the in-use emission created by our homes. They put us on course to being a net zero carbon business by 2040.

We are also playing a leading role in climate change adaptation, creating new homes and places that are more resilient to the challenges of a warmer climate, and which embrace the great potential of nature based solutions.

We also believe that new developments should embrace nature so in 2016 we became the first homebuilder to commit to measurably increasing biodiversity on every new site we develop. We are now expanding this approach to aim to achieve measurable improvements in water security, flood protection and air quality.

At Brighton Gasworks, new homes have been designed to be energy efficient in line with the anticipated Future Homes Standards 2025. The development will be fuelled by air source heat pumps and roof top solar panels to respond to the Councils net zero carbon targets.

We also have conducted a whole lifecycle carbon assessment which shows that the proposed development is projected to generate more than a third less carbon than RIBA’s ‘business as usual’ benchmarks.

Our homes have been designed to avoid overheating in current and future climate scenarios and the landscape (designed by local landscape architects Andy Sturgeon Design) will provide a climate-resilient approach to enhancing biodiversity on the site by over 1,800% as well as providing wind mitigation having regard to the site’s specific location on the coast, creating a more comfortable environment for people to spend time in.

Key Facts

• Over 1,800% biodiversity net gain

• 100% Air Source Heat Pump hot water and heating strategy

• Sitewide PVs paired with biodiverse roofs

• Bird and bat boxes

• Over 80 new trees

• BREEAM Excellent for non-residential buildings

• Whole lifecycle carbon assessment

• Resilient building materials, predominantly brick (no use of render)

• Reductions in water consumption

• 95% construction waste diverted from landfill

• Sustainable drainage systems including blue roofs and rainwater gardens

• 100% electric vehicle charging

• Resilient, local landscape species design by local landscape architect

• Wind mitigation designed in from the outset

• Homes design to avoid overheating –now and in future

• Cleaning up contaminated land

Promoting sustainable transport initiatives

The benefits from a good existing public transport network and sustainable modes will be encouraged through a significant package of sustainable transport initiatives.

As a result our transport modelling demonstrates that there will be a net reduction in transport movements from the site’s redevelopment, bringing associated improvements in local air quality.

SUSTAINABLE MEASURES

INCLUDE:

• 556 (policy compliant) long stay cycle spaces and 86 short stay cycle spaces, alongside provision of car club vehicles and memberships for residents

• Delivery of a beryl BTN bike share hub in the public realm

• New improved footpaths and cycle connections on site providing more pleasant routes and connections for the local area

• A new public lift and paths at accessible gradients will provide an accessible and inclusive route into the site, helping people to navigate the significant change in levels across the site

• Provision of car club spaces to promote car sharing in favour of private car ownership

• Hidden within podiums, 179 car parking spaces (including one Blue Badge space for every wheelchair home) will have 100% electric charging provision, allowing those who need a car to use one whilst encouraging people to shift towards more sustainable ways of living

• An ‘end-of-trip’ space providing showers, changing rooms and lockers will support employees of the new employment spaces to take ‘active’ commutes, such by running, cycling and walking

• Transforming Boundary Road to become a paved, tree lined street. Its detailed design will be developed in conversation with local residents

• Workplace and residential travel plans

• S106 contributions to local highway infrastructure such as a new toucan crossing on Marine Drive, helping cyclists and walkers to connect across to the seafront and local bus infrastructure

Economic

and Regeneration Benefits of a new mixed-use development

Regeneratng an underused Site in a key development area Uplift of 20 to 195 jobs across a range of skill levels (average of c.110 net jobs)

new homes contributing towards district housing targets Mixed uses and active frontage helping to activate the eastern end of Brighton

Boosting the local economy

With construction costs of over two hundred million pounds and together with level of spending in the local area generated by residents of the development and new businesses on site, Brighton Gasworks would bring an unprecedented level of investment to this part of the city, boosting the local economy and stimulating knockon effects in supporting local businesses, as well as funding public spending on local infrastructure and services.

We recognise the significant efforts that the council has had to go to in order to balance its budget in these exceptionally challenging

times. The additional revenue generated through the Development from council tax, New Homes Bonus and business rates would

Key Facts

• During construction, we will target at least 20% of trades and services to be procured from the local area, supporting the city’s circular economy.

• A Local Employment and Skills strategy to be agreed through the Section 106 agreement

• The new business space will provide space for local SMEs to locate and grow,

and together with the adjacent Bell Tower Industrial Estate, will support a cluster of business activity in the area.

• Employees and residents, living and working within the Development would have a beneficial impact on the local economy. Additional spending by these people would be captured within the shops and businesses in the surrounding area. We estimate a £7.5 million annual contribution to the local economy arising from the development.

help to address the deficit and support the council in its objective to ‘develop a flourishing and inclusive local economy that attracts and nurtures businesses and talent’.

Investment in this site can also act as a further stimulus for the wider area, such as building the business case to invest in redeveloping the adjacent parcels of council land, and improving investor confidence in plans to redevelop the marina. All of these could bring with them opportunities to bring forward further community infrastructure, such as health or community centres.

• New homes on this Site will increase council tax revenue collected by the council. Based on the average council tax rate (band D) for 2023/24 in Brighton and Hove, the 495 new homes would generate £1.1 million in council tax each year.

• The Development would also generate £1 million in New Homes Bonus. Local Authorities can choose which priorities to spend their New Homes Bonus on.

Placemaking and identity

Placemaking is vital in underpinning change in and around major development areas. By providing a mix of homes, new employment space, amenities, public realm and connections through the Site, our proposals will help to create a new mixed-use area of the city. It will provide better connect Kemptown, Whitehawk and Brighton Marina –integrating the Site into the surrounding area and providing a key connection between the seafront and South Downs National Park.

This development will deliver an exemplary physical transformation of the current underutilised and unattractive brownfield site creating 7,470 sqm of new public realm for the enjoyment of new and existing residential alike, whilst improving and creating legible connections through and across the Site and enhancing active travel options including dedicated pedestrian and cycle routes.

A landscape-led approach to the masterplan in conjunction with a diverse mix of uses across the scheme, will help to establish a positive and coherent sustainable identity contributing

towards health and well-being, inclusion and cohesion. A public art strategy will further reinforce a site-specific identity, with the art to be commission from local artists. The flint wall that runs along the site’s western boundary will be reincorporated into the landscape of the new development, with its location marked through a strategy to be agreed through the S106 agreement.

A variety of architectural styles recognise the significant variety in character around the site’s context as well as the site’s own identity as a former gasworks. The architecture of buildings to

the north of the site seeks to keep the social memory alive of the gasworks use that took place on this site for so long, whilst the sea front architecture is inspired by Brighton’s distinct Regency buildings and in doing so, the proposed development seeks to respect local identity and heritage. Three-storey townhouses along the western edge respond to terraced houses on Arundel Street and support a transition in scale across the site.

The health and wellbeing of future residents will also be supported and promoted by the development, contributing to the achievement of ‘good’ density

on this site. This includes diverse landscaped outdoor spaces promoting access to nature and support enjoyment of time outside, communal outdoor spaces and residents’ facilities to promote social interaction and a sense of community, inclusive building and landscape design, homes oriented to achieved good daylight and sunlight provision to homes and to take advantage of sea views and outdoor spaces and to minimise the risk of overheating.

SOUTH DOWNS GATEWAY:

At the north east site shallow gradients, steps and a public lift overcome the significant change in levels between the existing pavement and the site. A gasholder-inspired building references the remaining gasholder frame and using this prominent colour across the City

BOUNDARY ROAD:

A row of fourteen houses help with a transition in scale to the adjacent Arundel Street houses. Architecture uses robust in a sandy tone. A modest but high-quality landscape treatment transforms its currently unmaintained character and provides a quiet residential with wind and coastal tolerant street trees.

A pedestrian focused green space running through the site, lined by non-residential uses and residential entrances. Climate resilient soft landscape designed by Andy Sturgeon Design draws on native and local species, incorporates play space and rainwater gardens and other sustainable urban drainage measures, and provides quality and durable paving for pedestrians and cyclists. Varying building angles and tones and gaps between buildings create visual interest on this route.

The central heart of the development providing a flexible space for community and events use, its circular shape is inspired by gasholder geometry. Predominantly two- and three-storey building shoulders around this space provide a human scale and good levels of sunlight all year.

THE YARD:

A flexible, predominantly hard surfaced space designed to support the surrounding employment spaces for light industrial and creatives which have wide openings and high ceilings to support their vitality. The red brick buildings take inspiration from the industrial context of the Bell Tower Industrial Estate and the housing to the north.

SEAFRONT GARDEN:

At south west corner the buildings have been set back to create a landscaped ‘front garden’ to the development. Planting and trees are designed to frame the entrance with a variety of landscape species that are resilient in coastal locations.

COMMUNAL RESIDENTIAL GARDENS

Generous green spaces above podiums provide amenity spaces for residents which benefit from views of the sea. They provide generous soft landscape features including fruit trees, spaces for shade, seating and gathering alongside play elements for children.

SEAFRONT ARCHITECTURE

These seafront buildings are a modern interpretation of the Regency architecture that makes up the prevailing visual character of the Kemptown area to the west. Their scale responds to the existing taller context on either side of the site, but are setback from the seafront and so less prominent than Marine Gate and the Courcels building.

Community matters

When we begin construction, we want to make sure we worked closely with neighbours and local who live near the site to be fully informed and feel they can have a two-way dialogue with us about the construction activities.

Over the long term we want to work with neighbours, local charities, organisations and businesses to help them benefit from the inward investment and new opportunities from the regeneration of the site.

SO FAR WE HAVE:

• Set up a project website with information about the development

• Established a dedicated email address and a mailing list

• Sent newsletter updates at key milestones in the project including two stages of public consultation before submission and about the three planning application submissions

• Met with residents concerned about environmental effects of the construction to speak through in detail how we will remediate the site and the package of measures we will utilise to ensure we fully protect the health of local residents and to let them know how they can stay up to date and provide any on the works.

• Carried out an Environmental Impact Assessment which assesses potential for construction stage effects and sets out any controls, best practice measures and mitigation that may be needed to manage potential for effects. These mitigation measures are captured through the planning conditions to ensure that we comply.

• Carried out a full site investigation to understand the ground conditions and on this basis produced a Remediation Strategy and Air Quality and Odour Management Plan which are submitted with the planning application for approval and include commitments on how we will communicate with the community during the remediation works.

THE NEXT STEPS WILL INCLUDE:

• Setting up a Community Liaison Group

• Regular updates on the project website and in newsletters

• Monitoring and responding to enquiries and feedback from the public

• Further engagement and events with the local community and young people providing career insights and opportunities to work in the built environment

• Producing a Community Plans which is something we do for each of our regenerate sites to guide how we encourage the effective development of a thriving new neighbourhood supporting a shared vision for the local community.

• Hold events, activities, volunteering sessions to support the local community

About the applicant

The Berkeley Group builds homes and neighbourhoods across Birmingham, London and the south of England.

At The Berkeley Group we specialise in largescale brownfield regeneration projects, focusing on challenging and complex sites with great potential for positive change. We use our expertise and resources to transform these underused spaces over the long term, delivering the physical and social infrastructure which reconnects them with their surrounding communities and brings them to life.

The neighbourhoods we create are unique, welcoming, safe, low carbon and rich in nature and biodiversity. They combine the amenities local people care about most, with high quality homes of all types and tenures.

We pride ourselves on the quality of our work, building more than 3,000 homes a year alongside a mix of commercial and community spaces. We have over 60 live developments, including over 20 of the most challenging long-term regeneration projects in the country.

A division of The Berkeley Group, St William is a former joint venture with Natural Grid (part of the Berkeley Group) that was formed in

2014 to unlock some of the most technically complex, regeneration sites at the heart of communities across the south east, creating homes for everyone. One hundred per cent of St William developments are on brownfield sites. Gas infrastructure has been modernised and rationalised, which allows these sites to perform the same function in a more efficient way, resulting in the gasholders being redundant and the sites being underutilised.

Former gasworks sites are unique in use and character and their redevelopment is extremely complex and challenging both technically and financially. Issues that we must typically overcome include:

• Developing bespoke remediation strategies, enlisting specialist contractors and obtaining expert advice;

• Remediation of land which has been contaminated by the storage and / or manufacturing of gas for over a century;

• Assuming all past, present and future liabilities in respect of contamination;

• Rationalising and modernising essential and extensive gas infrastructure, including Pressure Reduction Stations, to release land for development;

• Committing to delivering sites despite having very limited knowledge of the conditions below ground, such as the full extent of significant buried structures;

• Supporting Local Authorities to revoke Hazardous Substances Consents which can stifle development on-site and in the surrounding area.

These sites take a specialist developer and a commitment to ‘good’ density to allow these sites to viably come forward for redevelopment. In turn we are able to make best use of these rare brownfield sites to deliver the homes and jobs that the region needs.

Following are some recent case studies.

Case Studies

Case Studies