The future of Brighton’s “ugliest roundabout” is looking brighter after its owners, Highways England, told the council it wants to start discussions about how to improve it.
Bushes on the roundabout on the A23 as you come into Brighton were hacked down to leave a wasteland for safety reasons back in January, to the horror of Patcham residents.
Ward councillors publicly condemned the move back in March – and now Highways England has told the council it wants to talk about its future.
Ward councillor Lee Wares said “An opportunity exists for the ugliest roundabout in Sussex to be transformed into something more stunning that reflects the nature of our great city and we are urging the Labour administration to grasp it with both hands.
“Of course there will be constraints and regulations to abide by but why not, for example, hold a competition for the children of our city to produce ideas to express what they think Brighton and Hove means to them?
“So much emphasis is placed on public art and displays in the city and making our seafront attractive and quite rightly so but, let’s begin the experience here in Patcham.”
Cllr Geoffrey Theobald said: “Hundreds of thousands of people pass this roundabout and I would hope that Highways England would agree to sponsors for the site to help fund something exciting and imaginative.
“We should not let this opportunity pass us by and end up with a wasteland covered in weeds or a few shrubs.”
Take apart the west pier, and rebuild a miniature version on the roundabout using its parts for the main structure. Light it up at night also
Plinth for local artists with a wildflower surround
Have a design competition. surely with all the proffessional, amateur artists there is a great opportunity to put something there that represents Brighton and get local business to sponsor it
It’s about time the council started to make Brighton and Hove look beautiful again. All the routes into the town and the parks look so neglected of flowers. It’s just boring and un-inspiring. Don’t we want to encourage nature?
While you’re at it it’s high time the disgusting A23 and A27 road sides are cleared of the increasing amount of litter and fly tipping. It is shameful how bad they’ve become . The junction of the A27 and A23 and about 5 miles north on the A23 is seriously in need of some good collection.
I’ve just come across this and still nothing si e 7 years later! Absolutely shocking given this is an entrance into Brighton & Hove. Does anybody know more now the Greens are out?
June 2023
Transfer the i360 there – it would look good in that spot……
Some kind of iconic sculpture that encapsulates the essence of Brighton and Hove , tolerance of all and NO LITTERING!
Suggest a wildflower bed, like the stunning displays in Preston Park.Please do something!!! And also put CROSS-HATCHING to prevent cars coming into Brighton on the A23 blocking cars coming off the A27 slip road. Or white lines as at the Cuelfail roundabout on the A27 at Lewes. It works well there.