There have been a number of important developments in the last few weeks - but I'll keep this as brief and to the point as possible.
So it turns out the hard deadline to complete Valley Gardens Phase 3 - cited by elected councilors over the past eighteen months as the reason for urgency on BHCC decisions never in fact existed.The funding 'Local Enterprise Partnership' - Coast 2 Capital, has written to the Forum confirming that it is their Board rather than the DfT that holds absolute discretion over the deadline of VG3 and a variety of other city projects - that actually may be completed by 2025! This has been pointed out by the Forum all the way along.
Yet again, we are presented with evidence of the elected administration and council officers playing fast and loose. In a few cases this will be down to a failure of curiosity, in others an inability to understand the evidence presented to them and for the remainder, a willingness to be 'economical with the truth'. But it’s not good enough. City governance is failing and with the recent departure of three senior BHCC Directors, the failure in Brighton appears to run deeper than in any of our immediately neighbouring towns or similar sized cities - irrespective of their political colour.
Press coverage of these significant developments here:
The Argus
Brighton Valley Gardens project delayed again
Fears of crisis hit Brighton council as third chief leaves
Questions must be asked about Brighton council departures
Latest TV
Cllr Lee Wares overview on the VG3 deadline extension
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We have long called for a pause and rethink and it's clear that the Forum's intervention over the past eighteen months has played its part. Ground works on Valley Gardens phase 3 will not start before June 2021. This is now the fact on the ground. The repeated claim that such a pause would lead to the loss of an allocated grant is demonstrably untrue. And still the proposed removal of the roundabout in VG3 is dependent on remodelling of the Dukes Mound junction to the A259 – see below. There is now time for all parties to sit down together and fix VG3 - as part of a joined up environmental, economic and transport strategy across the whole city. If we start from a position that all those who stand for office or work as public servants at the town hall should be engaging with the community in striving for Brighton & Hove's common good, it’s now imperative for BHCC to work openly and collaboratively to put things right. Do the proper traffic modelling, do the air quality assessments and get everyone on board. Despite all of this,BHCC has yet to learn the lesson...
Brighton & Hove Independent
Disappointment at results of audit into Valley Gardens project
Brighton & Hove News
Valley Gardens audit report under fire
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The Forum several months ago identified that removal of the Aquarium roundabout, requiring making Madeira Drive one way with the only exit via the junction at Duke's Mound, would be the Achilles heel in BHCC's plans for VG3. With no design, no funding and no consultation in place for Dukes Mound works. It appears that the Council were always planning to lose the Dukes Mound remodelling in the Waterfront Project works - but now that has stalled - enter the Black Rock Project. Which has to be started urgently!
The Council have learned something from our last encounter and this time actually carried out some of the preliminary work before attempting to rush through a planning application - revealed to us last week. The full details are here.
There's a huge volume of dense paperwork to trawl through - but it is clear that yet again, the numbers don't stack up. Of course the pretty bits look good and there’s lots here to be welcomed. But with any project the easy bits are the easy bits… it's how the difficulties and challenges are resolved that makes for the quality of delivery. The traffic modelling is deeply flawed. There is no validation - no independent checks on the modelling for existing scenarios that would prove the process to be valid. And a number of sweeping and incorrect assumptions made.
Why does this matter? Because a worst-case scenario results in a queue of HGVs and tourist coaches up Dukes Mound waiting to exit before making hill-starts and U-turns into Marine Parade delaying the A259 already blighted by congestion. There’s no account for pre-existing congestion on the A259 preventing these exits. It’s noisy, smelly, polluting and in our climate emergency, hard to reconcile against a level exit back along Madera Drive to a reworked roundabout. Because of the long period needed for these manoeuvres, it’s proposed that pedestrian crossing will only be every other cycle. That could mean pedestrians getting sick of waiting for ages at this unpleasant intersection and opting to make a dash for it – with potential for serious accidents. It’s a challenge so let’s all work together on the issues openly and honestly instead of trying to hide it.
BHCC are as usual attempting to rush through changes to Madeira Drive with minimum public scrutiny. Back to old tricks, there is a private meeting with Q&A being held about Valley Gardens Phase 3 and Madeira Drive traffic management options, being held at Yellowave Clubhouse on Madeira Drive for some of the local Traders, Thurs 19th March 10am-1pm and requires an "invite directly from the council". Curiously, this event takes place the day after the 'Standard Consultation Expiry Date' On past form, this might be the only opportunity the see the Planning Officers before 'consultation' is closed and this box is ticked - so head on down if you can.
A recent editorial by the Brighton Society commentary brutally skewers the Council's plan and BHCC's method: "This typically highlights the lack of coordinated policy towards formulating a proper plan for the development of all these important sites along our seafront. Goody goody we’ve got some money – what shall we do with it? That seems to be the sum total of the Council’s “co-ordinated policy” towards the seafront."
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On a more positive note, the Council are running a series of what they call 'Task & Finish' meetings for VG3 which on the face of it are intended to decide where to paint yellow lines and arrange street furniture. The Forum is expecting to have a representative at each of these. At the first external session - with city centre events organisers, the conversation was robust but constructive. Assuming that such meetings will leave a public record, the minutes of that meeting and those that follow will be circulated to Forum members.
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To end with a clue as to the Forum's direction, the recent canning of the new Heathrow runway opens up the prospect of future legal challenges over the BHCC's chaotic transport strategy.