Councillors have agreed to remove a controversial planter for four weeks to see if the change affects air pollution.
However, Green councillor Steve Davis said that he could not vote for the move because the planter in Rottingdean High Street had improved air quality and made people feel safer.
Debate has raged since the planter was introduced in October 2019 to create a chicane as part of a wider project to tackle pollution by Rottingdean Parish Council and Brighton and Hove City Council.
At the same, a hatched yellow box was painted by Dene’s Mews and traffic was barred from turning right out of West Street into High Street by the A259 traffic lights.
High Street has been an “air quality management area” since 2013 because nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions exceeded legal limits.
At a Brighton and Hove City Council Transport and Sustainability Committee meeting at Hove Town Hall yesterday (Thursday 6 July), Councillor Davis said that the planter should stay.
He said: “Residents have mentioned that people noticed an improvement in air quality and also they felt safer.
“If there was ever a road in our city that needed to be car-free, it’s Rottingdean High Street.”
The Green opposition leader added that Monday (3 July) was the hottest day recorded, with an average planet-wide temperature of 17.03C.
Councillor Davis said that scientists believed that this record, which has stood since 1996, will be broken this summer, which was another reason why he could not vote to remove the planter.
Labour councillor Gary Wilkinson asked if four weeks was long enough for officials to monitor the effects of removing the planter. He was told that it was.
A four-week traffic count is under way in Steyning Road – and a second count without the planter is due to start in September.
Councillor Wilkinson said: “Hopefully, the option will remain to bring this back if negative impacts can be shown.”
If removing the planter had no impact, councillors were told that it would not return.
Brighton and Hove Independent councillor Bridget Fishleigh, who represents Rottingdean and West Saltdean, listened to the meeting.
She said afterwards: “The Rottingdean High Street air quality improvement scheme should be a case study for all councils on how not to implement a road project.”
Even if you believe that climate change is manmade, how on earth would moving one planter change anything!!! Steve Davis lives in cuckoo land.
“Even if you believe that climate change is manmade”
What does belief have to do with it?
Do you believe the sky is blue?
Do you believe that ice is colder than boiling water?
Do you believe that up is up and down is down?
Talk about cuckoo land..
Sorry – Steve Davis actually lives in Narnia
Delenda, I’d love to blow your mind and tell you the sky is more accurately a purple colour.
A problem with the High Street is the narrow sidewalk on the west side.
In England, we call them pavements.
What is a sidewalk?
In America, the name needs to describe very articulately what the function of the item is, in this case, walking on the side of the road. However, you do get some areas where this has still caused confusion, evidenced by the main method of perambulating is to sidewards shuffle.
Sidewalk is a reflection of the ever increasing American influence on the UK. Our language is being lost….
Reverted. America doesn’t evolve its language. England does. England moves forward. America stagnates.
The second trial is when the schools are back so more cars are on the road so how is that a fair assessment
Because more times than not, specifically the 39 weeks that make up a school year, children are at school, Sam.
You need a balanced trial. No point having a trial unless you have data at the most busiest times too.
Schools operate 40 weeks of the year.
Just take it away!
These things have just become giant ash trays and waste bins for discarded beer and cola tins!
I wonder if it’s simply the road itself that could be changed if air quality improvement was the goal. For example, making that particular road a one high-occupancy vehicle lane, greatly reducing the traffic. There’s a lot more considerations to it than that, but I’d be interested in hearing more about other methods.
If you wish to draw a conclusion based on data you need to design an experiment that leads you to a clear conclusion. Given the amount of variables it will be impossible to draw any definitive conclusion.
Moreover I have no faith that the people in charge have any experience of designing experiments that can withstand the required scientific scrutiny.
So don’t waste your time and our money dealing with things you have no hope of honestly achieving. Remove the planter permanently, at least the risk of accidents, frustration and long delays will be greatly reduced.