Brighton and Hove Albion has been given permission to turn a temporary park and ride into a permanent scheme.
Up to 700 cars can park on land outside Brighton Racecourse in Freshfield Road, Brighton, on match days and when events take place at the football club’s Falmer stadium.
The park and ride can be used up to 50 times a year.
The scheme has been running for two years and involves fans taking match-day buses from the racecourse to the American Express Community Stadium via Woodingdean. After matches, buses return along Lewes Road.
When the new bus and cycle lanes have been completed in Lewes Road, buses will travel to and from games along that route.
Brighton and Hove City Council Planning Committee gave its unanimous approval to plans to make the temporary park and ride permanent.
After their decision at Hove Town Hall yesterday (Wednesday 17 July) Albion director Martin Perry said: “The whole sustainable transport strategy at the stadium has been a massive success.
“The park and ride element of that has been an important plank of the whole strategy.
“To have that confirmed by the council, and to have the planning committee’s unanimous support, underlines the success of what we’ve been doing.”
The club also operates park and rides from Mill Road in Westdene and Mithras House off Lewes Road, Brighton.
Planning committee chairman Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty said: “This is a tried and tested solution that will really help fans and residents alike.
“Working closely with the Albion and the racecourse we believe we have a result that will help with the Albion’s successes well into the future.”
So why is it that the Greens won’t consider the idea of Park and Ride for people visiting the city as a whole. We need to limit speeds and the road space, but they have scored an own goal by not completing the picture with park and ride facilities on the outskirts of town. Yes, we need to limit congestion, but not at the expense of the local economy. You’re just handing the opposition a stick to beat you with. Why can’t this committee consider this wider issue?
Where precisely, Greenfuzz? All three political parties would like the benefit of your expertise as no officer or political party has so far been able to identify a viable park and ride site for the city per se. And indeed it could if it were provided mean loss of space to build housing and deter people coming to use the centre for shopping, etc.
And do not suggest privately owned Toads Hole Valley.