“Hello all you good and fine people! Whether you want to have a good clear-out, sell your crafts or collectables or just hang about the streets chatting with neighbours – this is the day for you! Do get involved and book a pitch. It would be great to see lots of folk taking part. Till then! Max”
Profound concerns about the Valley Gardens redevelopment scheme are revealed in a leaked document prepared by Brighton & Hove Buses.
Read the full story here.
Our foxgloves in west planter June 2015 (@LondonRdLAT)
Though we tend to focus on our edible growing plot, we love our platform planters and the tree pits outside London Road Station.
The platform planters are quite shady while the tree pits are in full sun, with young trees greedy for moisture: a challenge for planting on both scores. But what’s been chastening – putting us gardeners in our place – is just how joyfully wayward the plants in these areas seem to have been.
First candidate for plant bloodymindedness: our foxgloves. Tolerant of shade, pretty robust and attractive to bees, these were supposed to be the showpiece of our platform planters last year. They did nothing but put on leaf and sulk, though inexplicably one decided to flower in November. This year, though, they sprung up all ebullient with a lovely show of flowers, as in the photo above tweeted by @LondonRdLAT.
‘Nick’s’ planter…
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We want your views on whether we should extend smokefree spaces in the city.
Smoking is the primary cause of preventable illness and premature death in the United Kingdom, accounting for over 80,000 deaths a year.
Workplaces and substantially enclosed public areas in England have been smokefree by law since July 2007.
This means that it is against the law to tobacco smoke in the indoor parts of places such as pubs, bars, nightclubs, cafes and restaurants, lunchrooms, membership clubs and shopping centres.
Tobacco smoking in cars carrying children will also be banned on the 1st October 2015.
This survey will help the Council understand public opinion on Tobacco smoking and whether it should be extended to outdoor public areas.
The Council already have a voluntary ban on smoking in children’s play areas.
The results of this survey will be reported to the Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board later in the year, so that a decision can be made on extending smokefree areas and the possible design of the scheme.
The previous application was rejected. This design is the same but set back a little from the road and sunk lower.
You can see the plans and make comments here.
Update from OpenMarket trader Mohammed Asaduzzaman
MULTICULTURAL EID FESTIVAL : SUNDAY 26 JULY 2015
held at Brighton Open Market, Marshalls Row, Brighton BN1 4JU
on Sunday 26th July between 11am – 3:30pm.
The traders’ stalls will be open, joined by a variety of organisations and activities as The Open Market springs into life to celebrate the arrival of Eid, a time of renewal, giving, joy and forgiveness – an event for all, a non-denominational celebration, much like Christmas.
The Festival is organised in partnership with faith groups, community groups, charities and service providers across the city (see over for some involved), in a spirit of unity, to promote community cohesion, break down social barriers, promote peace and harmony within the city and increase cultural diversity within the London Road and among the users of the community market. It…
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The controversial Valley Gardens scheme has been delayed until at least October for new traffic modelling examining how the new road layout will deal with weekend and bank holiday traffic.
The original traffic modelling for the scheme, which will see traffic reduced to a single lane from St Peter’s Church to the Old Steine, concluded it would be neutral – but only took into account data from weekdays as fluctuating weekend traffic was deemed too unreliable.
As part of its promised review into the scheme, the new Labour administration has ordered a second report which takes the weekend traffic into account.
But the Greens, who commissioned the original report, say prioritising the road for excessive holiday traffic would simply turn it into a car park, and say the extra delay could threaten funding for the scheme.
Labour’s environment and transport chief Gill Mitchell said: “Since it was first proposed a couple of years ago, the scheme has undergone some very radical changes, most radical is reducing each side to one lane in each direction.
“Labour councillors had serious concerns before the election about where the displaced traffic goes. We were very worried about taking that amount of traffic out of a key arterial road.
“We kept on being told it was traffic neutral, but it can only be neutral if a significant amount of traffic is displaced.
“What we have now called for, and what is underway, is some further modelling on exactly those issues, looking at the possibility of queuing and congestion on Lewes Road and London Road, looking at junctions to see how they will work, and specifically looking at the single southbound lane proposed.”
She said the impact of starting construction while other major projects in the city were underway, such as Circus Street, the Royal Sussex, Preston Barracks and the demolition of Amex House, would also be examined.
She added: “[Council leader] Warren Morgan and myself met with officials from the Local Enterprise Partnership [which is funding the scheme] early on after the election and they have granted us additional time to make these further checks.
“I have made a commitment to the LEP that we will be making a decision in October and I will be held to that.
“If it does throw up significant issues we can’t take something forward in the full knowledge that it’s not going to work.”
But Cllr Pete West, the Green’s environment spokesperson, said his party’s administration had looked at “numerous” design options based on “considerable evidence”.
He said: “We weighed the pros and cons of each and came up with a plan which will improve this area as a public park and as a transport corridor and which balances the provision for walking, cycling, public transport and general traffic.
“Labour have voiced concerns about the reduction of some road space for general traffic in the design, however the traffic modelling suggests that the simplification of ten junctions and a clearer layout will reduce the amount of stop-start motoring and improve traffic flow in spite of this.
The project report to Capital to Coast, who awarded £14million funding for the scheme, said this simplification will enable private vehicles and public transport to operate more efficiently.
“Exceptional sunny Bank Holidays and weekends, when thousands flock to the beach, have always and will continue to cause traffic jams, whatever is done at Valley Gardens, because the whole city has limited space for so many cars.
“However, to prioritise Valley Gardens as a stacking space for occasional heavy traffic days would be an appalling prospect turning it into a sort of car park which would threaten the other benefits of the scheme.
“As the city grows and visitor numbers continue to increase, we need to nurture the current trend for more local journeys by foot, bike, bus and taxi and more arrivals by train and coach.
“The Valley Gardens scheme promises to make an important contribution to this shift while helping general motor traffic to flow better. Labour’s continued scepticism and delay can only undermine what is widely viewed as an excellent scheme for the city.”
The scheme currently has two northbound and two southbound lanes for general traffic on the eastern side of the valley.
On the western side, the scheme includes a north and southbound lane for buses and taxis.
Initially, the scheme included two new sections of road to accommodate four lanes of traffic – two in each direction – along the eastern side of the valley but the four lanes were cut to two after modelling showed the simpler layout meant a better flow and therefore less space was needed at junctions for queuing traffic.
The design work for the park area is also being revised so that the Mazda fountain can be retained after more than a thousand people signed a petition calling for its retention.
However, it’s possible that the Green and Tory groups on the council may yet unite to outvote any changes to the scheme proposed by the minority Labour administration.
The trees, including one which is as old as the park itself, were cut down earlier this month after park rangers spotted the telltale signs of the disease.
The council is now appealing for park users to help them spot any more infected trees, so it can stop it spreading further.
Delia Forrester told a meeting of the Queen’s Park Local Action Team last week: “We have lost a couple of trees in the past week to Dutch elm disease. The disease manifests itself by branches becoming discoloured. By the time the disease has gone that far it has to be removed and burnt. Everyone should be watching out for dodgy looking patches.
“One which was lost last week was as old as the park. If you see any digging it will probably be someone digging a trench to prevent it spreading through the roots.”
A council spokesman said: “Elm disease is most active during the early summer months when the beetles fly to find new trees. The council’s arboricultural team is checking trees during this time and reducing the numbers of infected trees to contain the spread of the beetles.
“Elm disease can’t be completely eradicated but Brighton and Hove has a good record of ensuring it doesn’t spread and in preserving its elm population which is why the city holds the national elm collection.
“As part of the summer programme, two trees were felled in Queens Park but this is a last resort and we will try and contain any outbreaks by cutting out diseased branches to try and save trees if that is at all possible.
“We rely on the public to tell us about any trees they suspect may be infected. Signs to look out for are:
“Alerting the Council as soon as possible helps prevent spread of the beetles transporting the disease to other trees – you can do that at www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/elmdisease“.
Brighton has been announced as one of the latest towns across the UK to receive support from some of the UK’s biggest brands including: EE, Exterion Media, Greggs, Boots UK, the Co-operative Group, Marks & Spencer and Santander to support the transformation of UK High Streets.
Business in the Community’s Healthy High Streets programme aims to increase footfall by 10%, reduce the number of vacant properties by 20% and stimulate the creation of new jobs in 100 towns over three years.
The programme launched in June 2014 and is backed by some of the UK’s biggest high street brands – founding partners Boots UK, the Co-operative Group, Marks & Spencer and Santander and new partners EE, Exterion Media and Greggs. Brighton is one of 34 new High Streets selected for the programme across the UK today, bringing the total number of participating High Streets to 67.
It will receive a bespoke package of support, including access to skills and expertise, and dedicated High Street Champions from supporting businesses who will work together with the local partnership team, local authority and relevant local partners to devise an action plan to address the specific challenges facing the town. The final 33 towns will be announced next year. In one year, the programme has brought support and resources worth £9 million from its corporate partners into 33 UK high streets. Commenting on the programme’s expansion, Robin Foale, Managing Director, Santander Business Banking, and chair of the Healthy High Streets programme said “Congratulations to Brighton on being chosen to be part of the Healthy High Streets programme. This is a great opportunity to work with the business partners and the local High Street Champions to transform the town and create a thriving, vibrant centre for the local community.”
Business in the Community’s Peter Donohoe said: “One of the most powerful ways for business to make an impact in communities is by creating high streets that are vibrant places to live, work and do business. It has been heartening to see first-hand the practical difference that collaborative, business-led action can make on UK high streets in just one year. While there is much be proud of about our High Streets Programme we also know that there is more work to be done. We warmly welcome Greggs, EE and Exterion Media as programme partners and look forward to working with Brighton to create lasting change.”
Gavin Stewart, Manager of the Business Improvement District, who applied to the proramme, said, “It’s fantastic news that BITC has selected us to work with this year. We are all very aspirational for the city to succeed, so it’s great that we will be able to benefit from the expertise of some of the UK’s most iconic businesses.”
To find out more about Business in the Community’s high streets work visit www.bitc.org.uk/healthyhighstreets.
Southdown Rise Residents Association 