Brighton & Hove's "Core Strategy" and Building
Businesses:
Brighton and Hove Council's planning department's "
Core Strategy" setting out strategic views for development
zones for the future is up for renewal - so what?
On 18 May ACUMEN
BUSINESS LAW spent the evening with other Brignton & Hove
business people and local authority executives discussing "Doing
Business in this City". A wide range of businesses were
represented - media, software, leisure, retail, commercial property
agents - and on the whole, Brighton & Hove is working
through the recession, though not without some
major hiccups or crises.
Issues Facing Brighton & Hove Business:
In general companies echoed each other in saying that Brighton
& Hove is a draw for talent throughout Sussex and the South
East due to its culture and reputation. There was some
concern about new university leavers being adequately equipped to
move straight into business but overall the quality of graduates
was high. The main issue is that expanding companies are
having difficulty finding appropriate space and are frustrated to
see prime City centre sites being used primarily
for residential developments with limited retail or
office space.
Commercial Brain-Drain to Other Business
Centres:
The problem is that as businesses grow they need larger,
modern,
legislation-compliant,
energy efficient premises - and will therefore end up leaving
the city to find the right type of work space. With them
go the opportunities for Brighton & Hove to develop a coherent
business district. The draw of Brighton being an hour's train
journey from London and the City could well go into
reverse.
What Brighton & Hove City Council's Planning Department Can
Do:
So what about the Core Strategy? The local authority is about to
begin the process of drawing up and 'zoning' different parts of the
city in a plan that will be in effect until 2026. The
more discussions taking place about what is needed the more
likelihood something will be done about it and perhaps a better
area could be earmarked.