Plans for a sunken concrete skate park at The Level has been given planning permission.
The decision was made by Brighton and Hove City Council Planning Committee this afternoon (Wednesday 8 August) at Hove Town Hall.
Councillors backed plans for the new skate park and associated landscaping which is due to be sited to the north of Rose Walk.
A the start of the meeting the committee heard from Darren Dartnell and Rich Green, members of the Brighton and Hove Skateparks Association.
They presented a petition prompted by concerns that the proposed skate park might be turned down and the existing rundown skate park removed, leaving skaters worse off.
But the planning committee backed a report by officials which said: “The proposed skate park would provide improved and enhance skating facilities within the city while providing a better balance overall to the northern half of the park.
“The proposal, by virtue of design through use of sunken levels and low boundaries, would preserve the historic layout of The Level and would ensure that the traditional open space character is retained.”
It also said: “The existing skate park, which is sited to the south of Rose Walk, comprises high wooden structures which date from the 1970s, is an unsightly and poorly maintained element of The Level which detracts from the open space and harms the setting of the listed buildings in Richmond Terrace.”
The new skate park is part of a package of plans aimed at making The Level a more pleasant open space.
The plans are not without their critics but have been agreed by the council and attracted heritage lottery funding.
Changes to The Level are also being regarded as part of plans to improve the appearance of the whole Valley Gardens area from The Level to the Palace Pier.
The Level lies directly in the middle of The Green Party’s grassroots political heartland.
Directly in the very heart of The Level,is the sunniest, quietest, and most sheltered part of The Level’s historic open green. It is precisely this most favoured part of the green that is to become BHC’s new ‘national destination skate and wheeled sports venue’ catering to er, a minority group of mainly white males between (roughly) 15-30 with an interest in wheeled sports.Where that leaves the majority of the community with no interest at all, is neither here nor there. Apparently. Now, you’d think that the Greens would’ve been in the forefront of any campaign to stop this outrageous attack on our increasingly rare open green public spaces. But, you’d be wrong!On the contrary, we have our very own ‘Green’ Party, and local ‘Green’ ward councillors directly to thank for giving the go-ahead on this disgraceful proposal, along with their enthusiastic support for council officers to dig up the heart of their very own green heartland, so as to replace it with concrete! – Which pretty much sums up the soul of the ‘Greens’.
The new concrete skate bowl in the heart of The Level’s historic open green will forever more stand as a symbolic monument to Green Party hypocrisy , political opportunism, and greed.
I watched this item on the council website’s live webcam (it will be re-viewable when archived) as it was being determined by the planning committee.
I was impressed by the contribution from Cllr Geoff Wells who is not always a natural at expressing himself. He persuaded me.
I’m uneasy about this plan. And the Green Cllrs who spoke in favour of it very clearly prioritised the social aspects of this scheme over the green aspects of this scheme. And it speaks volumes for the truth about the Green Party that it has become much less about environment and much more about increased human activity that is nothing to do with being Green.
It was said that the present skate park area (wooden) will become a sensory garden but it will be within the children’s playground area! And not everyone would seek it out for a quiet space next to that. My instant thought was that the sensory garden might end up becoming a drunks/junkies hangout. Do hope not.
Taking a chunk out of the area above the rose garden for this polished concrete facility will change the character of The Level entirely.
We live in a time that seeks hyperactivity and this is reflected in the fact that a plain green space with just trees and flowers is seen as “underused” both by the council and by a lot of residents. Plus this may be a deliberate attempt to force interaction between the differing kinds and ages of people using The Level. To make it more social and less about seeking a bit of green and quiet.
Social engineering: MUST create communities because left to ourselves we can’t be trusted to do it.
I’m also deeply concerned at such a crass attempt at social engineering (by mixing up the traditional functions of the north and south). This entire project, along with the council’s so called ‘public consultation’ has been a farce from the start. From the start, these proposals have caused nothing but tension, conflict, and division between local community groups that have previously rubbed along together just fine.
For the last 3 years, the council has continually lied to, deceived, and grossly manipulated the community to force through these plans which involve turning the historical northern green into a ‘destination skate and wheeled sports venue’. The historical southern enclosed children’s playground is to become formal public gardens, and the new flash cafe involves the loss of 20% of the historical Rosewalk. And, it’s all being funded by HERITAGE Lottery!
Whilst I’m shocked at the lack of political will from ALL our local politicians to prevent the worst ‘design elements’ of the new (but appallingly flawed) Level masterplan design, watching the young ‘Green’ councillors betray their party principles quite so enthusiastically in support of these plans was nauseating in the extreme.
Very bad decision.. You want a ‘skate part’ – put it on the old Peter Pan fair ground on the sea front..
it was RAMED . absolutely rammed today.. 2 april an amazing event i liked it very much and no problems with so many “youth..” a good event well organized and WOW like i said it was popular with young and old…