About the Forum

Welcome to the Coldean Neighbourhood Planning Forum website 

Our purpose is to give local people the chance to shape their neighbourhood, by creating a reference guide that planners and developers need to pay attention to before they can make any changes to the area.  If you live or work in Coldean area, get involved in shaping your Neighbourhood Plan!

We are a forum of members who have official status to create a legal document setting out a ‘Coldean Neighbourhood Plan’ with the help of urban design specialists, planning consultants and Brighton & Hove City Council. 

The Coldean Neighbourhood Forum is about residents coming together to develop a Neighbourhood Plan in order to help protect the village from matters relating to planning. Over the years residents have often complained about many issues relating to planning in particular the loss of family homes being converted into HMO’s impacting school places, at Coldean Primary School and finally a large development on Coldean Lane that destroys green space available to residents of Coldean which is of great concern.  

Legal Status 

Our Neighbourhood Forum and Neighbourhood Area obtained final official designation on 24 December 2021.  Our constitution can be accessed below 

Membership 

We held our inaugural meeting at St Mary Magdalen Church Hall.  This was well attended and included our ward councillors.  After official business and elections, everyone spoke about their hopes for what the Forum would achieve and this is now expressed in our Vision for Coldean – see below.  Top of this list was preservation of green open spaces within the Neighbourhood Area, closely followed by the loss of family homes to Houses in Multiple Occupation. 

Since then, the activities of the Forum have grown to include an active Facebook page, this website and we have issued numerous forum updates.  We  hold regular Forum meetings, and monthly Forum committee meetings
 

Committee 

The Committee meet regularly to progress work on the neighbourhood plan.  The committee currently comprises the following people: 

• Patrick Lowe*           (Chairperson)
• Anant Suchak*         (Treasurer)
• Deborah Annells    (Secretary)
• Manish Suckak        (Business  Representative)
• Jack Moxley*            (Publicity Representative)
• Jean Thomas            (Residential Representative)

*Denotes CNPF Ltd Directors 

If you think you have something to contribute and time available please fill in the form below to join the committee. 

Vision of Coldean 

(a) To preserve from development the existing green spaces in, and surrounding, the Neighbourhood Area.

(b) To preserve and encourage a variety of wildlife habitats in those areas.

(c) To encourage families to live in Coldean by reducing the number of HMOs.

(d) To improve the appearance of Coldean and thereby increase community identity.

(e) To work with other agencies to reduce crime and other anti-social behaviour.

(f) To encourage retail diversity by improving the appearance of Coldean.

(g) To increase accessibility to Green Open Spaces by traffic management and improve access to green spaces.

Neighbourhood Plan

Our work will culminate in the development of a Neighbourhood Plan for Coldean. Everyone who lives or works in Coldean will soon get the chance to vote for this plan in due course - before it is formally adopted.