Brighton and Hove City Council branded the decision to allow the scheme for 495 homes on the Brighton gasworks site and to order the authority to cover developer St William’s costs as “disappointing” and “unwelcome”. The £280 million development was originally rejected by the council after a six-and-a-half-hour meeting of the council’s planning committee in May 2024. It is not yet known how much the council will have to pay St William but the council’s own legal costs were £160,000 excluding VAT for its barrister and consultant. It is also unwelcome news that we will have to pay costs, at a time when council finances are under pressure. "The derelict Brighton Gasworks site is allocated for housing development but it still took over five years to achieve planning consent via appeal.