Duke’s Mound will look bare for the next year after its bushes are cut back and removed so new native plants can thrive there.
Both Duke’s Mound and Black Rock are set to be revamped and re-landscaped while the previous proposal to build a conference centre is on hold.
The interim plans include refurbishment of the Grade II listed buildings on the site, the Temple and Reading room.
However, the work started this week is concentrating on the vegetation, with swathes of non-native tamarisk bushes removed to make way for more native species.
Councillor Tom Druitt, Chair of the Black Rock working group, said: “Increasing local biodiversity in our city is a vital step in fighting the ongoing biodiversity emergency that we face.
“We need to act now to make a real difference and removing the wildly overgrown tamarisk to allow the native species to thrive, will bring local grassland habitats back to life.
“The tamarisk was introduced many years ago and has grown so extensively it has prevented light reaching the ground, limiting all other species and discouraging people from accessing the area – removing them will bring this area back into use for everyone and make it more of a pleasure to visit.
“Now more than ever, as we enter a post-Covid world of outdoor leisure spaces, we want to make sure these precious spaces are available for use by everyone.”
Land Use Consultants and EH Treecare will be doing the removal and seeds will be provided by The Millennial Seed Bank.
Jon Bannister of Land Use Consultants, said: “The area we know as Duke’s Mound will look rather bare for 2021, but once the chalk grassland seed has started to take and to grow through the summer months, we will see the new species beginning to develop into a more colourful and attractive area which will also encourage greater variety of wildlife.”
Black Rock had been earmarked for redevelopment with a conference centre and arena venue as part of Brighton and Hove City Council’s Waterfront project, in partnership with Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI).
However, ASI paused the project in November 2019 to give it time to look into the feasibility of building it on a site currently occupied by the Brighton Centre, Kingswest and the NCP car park, leaving Black Rock open for other use.
So good to see the Green Party clearing up so they can see what was really going on there…
Reworking that area should be a positive move – although the Duke’s Mound section isn’t so bad compared to the rest of Madeira Drive and its collapsing terraces.
In this new plan, it’s the Black Rock concrete van park that we really need to lose, because that has been an eyesore for decades.
I’m not however convinced by their new planting ideas. The tamarisk bushes have taken well there because they are hardy wind break shrubs that don’t mind the salty air. They do put salt into the soil which then makes planting other shrubs an issue.
And I can’t see that ‘Downland grasses’ are a pretty alternative. Downland flowers tend to thrive in hollows out of the wind, so they may also struggle at that spot.
The underlying issue with all planting in this city is the council might find the budget to chop things down, but then there are few gardeners left to maintain any flower beds or any borders that require regular attention. So it might have made more sense to leave a lot more of the tamarisk in place. It’s quite pretty when it flowers.
A new cafe at that end, in the old reading rooms below Sussex Square gardens, if that actually happens, will be very welcome.
It must be over a year ago that I last cycled up there and, on reaching the top of that hill, saw a happy rat in the undergrowth. I hope that these are injured during the re-planting.
Agh! I missed out a vital “not” there.
“Increasing local biodiversity in our city is a vital step in fighting the ongoing biodiversity emergency that we face.”
That’s right Greens. Kick out the foreigners for the benefit of natives….bleeding racists.
Downland grasses? This is the coast , these current shrubs are holding the soil together so it doesn’t get washed away and they are salt tolerant, I thought money was limited hence why the Victorian metal work further up hasn’t been touched – something doesn’t sound right here