A public meeting is taking place at 7.30pm today (Wednesday 1 December) at The Nevill pub to enable local residents to discuss their concerns about the Toads Hole Valley development.
There are two main issues with the proposal for 880 new homes – roads and wildlife.
Toads Hole Valley along with all the other new developments in our city will result in traffic increasing by 50 per cent over the next few years, creating pollution and mayhem.
The road network needs careful planning if we are to cope. This is the final chance to get it sorted because once Toads Hole Valley is built there won’t be any more land to build new roads on.
The only plans I have seen to deal with this gridlock are for a couple more sets of traffic lights and a few speed humps.
One of the main routes in and out of Hove is by King George VI Avenue, known locally as Snakey Hill.
This route is already severely congested resulting in cars being forced to gain access to the bypass from adjoining roads.
They were never designed for so many vehicles currently using them, let alone when the additional traffic increase kicks in.
Toads Hole Valley is an oasis for wildlife. It is home to the last surviving colony of dormice In Brighton and Hove.
Nationally the dormouse population has declined by half in the last 20 years. Dormice are shy. They don’t like noise. They live in trees and bushes and they hibernate
What are the plans for Brighton and Hove’s dormice? Well, we’re going to squeeze them into a smaller and smaller space wedged between the bypass, a supermarket, houses and factories.
There will be a dormouse bridge which will enable them – if they can find it – to seek a new place they can call home in the Three Cornered Copse.
Sadly, this fairy tale ends there as the copse is a very popular dog walking area – and dormice are a real delicacy as far as dogs are concerned. There are quite a few cats up there too.
If we can’t protect our local wildlife then we can hardly complain at the extinction of other species around the world.
So come on Brighton and Hove City Council! Don’t bow to pressure from developers. At the very least get some robust workable plans in place before the Toads Hole Valley development is agreed to sort out the roads and secure the future for our wildlife.
If you want to comment on the proposals, email planning.applications@brighton-hove.gov.uk quoting BH2018/03633 Toads Hole Valley.
Hurry up though. Time is running out.
Gareth Hall is a resident of the Hove Park and Goldstone Valley area.
Needs to be supported but all efforts made to improve access, outcomes, density and integration into an ‘hour wide region’ rather than 20 minute city. It has to shift people from the centre, not act as another spot to travel to the centre from.
Sadly, it feels a very polarised application, with either all or nothing views on it. This, as per usual, will end up harming this great opportunity to do something special for the city, region and on the site.
Am I the only person looking at this design and wondering why there isn’t an entrance and exit for busses at the top of the hill. could very easily have a bus run from the old stein, Brighton station up dyke road to this new estate. Or one down to Hove station area.
Secondly why is the road to the bypass not being made into duel cartridge way, there is ample space they could even put a bike lane over by the pathway. No connecting road into East hangleton either… That’s going to be a fun bottleneck in the morning.
Or they could have avoided all of this and taken pressure of the dyke road roundabout by putting in a bypass entrance and exit, shoddy planning.
It may look nice on a computer screen with all the silly windy roads but people actually have to live there.
Maybe instead of demolishing all the industrial land by Hove station, they should up date it and remove the industrial buildings from this development. What business wants to be somewhere with terrible public transport…