Recent Interesting* Industry Stuff

And so to the Planning Committee once more this afternoon, its inexorable three-week cycle trundling on like some sort of built-environment-based menses.

I actually find this frequency and regularity very reassuring - sod the summer break (when everything at the Council more or less shuts down for a couple of weeks), never mind Christmas and Easter (ditto), nothing short of a nuclear war would prevent this vital piece of local democracy in action from occurring - which is a very good thing, given the fact that the Planning Committee is pretty much the only truly democratic voting forum for elected members remaining under the new arrangements at Brighton & Hove City Council. Hats off (pink, hard or otherwise - no laughing at the back there) to the officers for keeping the show on the road, and to such a punishing schedule.

Anyway, it was a mixed bag this week as usual - no major applications, but a plethora of minors which had been brought before the Committee thanks to calls from ward councillors and residents. The most frustrating application concerned a retrospective permission for Primark on Western Road (which Cllr Jason Kitcat has blogged about as ward cllr in his efforts to support residents in their objections) - not least because Primark's representative from mega property consultants Savills was clearly very inexperienced, very nervous, and, erm, couldn't actually answer any of the Committee's questions properly. Super. Very useful. To my mind this was indicative of Primark's generally dismissive attitude towards residents and the council, and to their responsibilities towards their neighbours as a whole. Sadly my arguments suggesting tougher conditions on deliveries and the service area didn't hold sway.

Still, I always enjoy my time at the Planning Committee even if I don't always agree with the decisions made in the meetings, because I *heart* the built environment (when it's designed properly); and with this in mind I thought I'd share some recent industry stories which have caught my eye:

• Birmingham Library denied Listed status (thanks to an entirely politically motivated decision by the (*ahem*) Culture Minister - see my earlier arguments re Technocracy)

• Tory councils 'less likely to grant planning permission' (o rly?)

• Biodiversity loss is Earth's 'immense and hidden' tragedy (yes - and I am so glad Prof Wilson is sticking his head over the parapet to say this at a time when the economic and climate crises have diverted global attention far, far away from protecting and conserving our natural environment)

• But happily... the TEEB Report calls for more ecosystem markets (a pioneering approach which has resonance with the tireless efforts of our City Ecologist in developing the recent draft SPD on Nature Conservation & Development, due for adoption next year)

• Three London councils win Housing funding freedoms (let's hope B&H are next)

• Taskforce to turn churches over to communities launched (good - *secular face*)

• CABE launches green infrastructure campaign (can somebody tell Cllr Geoffrey Theobald?)

• Brighton planners get industry props for winning Amex office changes (great coverage for officers in amidst recent local media controversies - well done all concerned)

• Woman ranked as one of UK's top Builders (excellent news :D)

and finally... [*Trevor McDonald face*]

• Architecture for Pets (I have not shown this to the guys in case they get jealous and start to form ideas above their station)

By the way, in my quest to locate the pink hard hat pic above, I was simultaneously amazed, amused and astonished (not to mention a little appalled) to discover that there is an entire website devoted to Lady Builders' Tools, Equipment and Accessories. OMG. Anyone for a cerise utility belt? If I ever find gainful employment within the industry again, you can bet I'm going to kit myself *RIGHT* out ;)

* interesting to planning, built environment & design spods, that is... I can hear my sister's voice saying "BARRING" lol

Happy Sussex Day

Today is Sussex Day. It's celebrated on June 16th as it's the saint day of St. Richard, patron saint of Sussex and a Bishop of Chichester.

Sussex Day was dreamed up by West Sussex County Council in 2007 as an opportunity to "celebrate the rich heritage of the county of Sussex". We don't seem to do much here in Brighton & Hove, although the Leader of Brighton & City Hove Council has apparently pledged her support this year:

Cllr Mary Mears urged residents to celebrate living in 'the country's best county', by enjoying our surroundings and supporting local shops and services on the county day.

Sussex Day, a kind of localised version of St George’s Day, is held on St Richard's Day, the patron saint of Sussex, on June 16th. The day has been widely celebrated in West Sussex but Cllr Mears said that, as the largest city the county Brighton & Hove should also recognise the event.

Cllr Mears said: “Living in Brighton & Hove, right in the heart of the country's best county, means we can truly enjoy the benefits of coast and countryside.

“With the economic slowdown, there has never been a better time to support the county by getting out into the great outdoors and enjoying some local produce and generally celebrate the county."

For once, Cllr Mears and I are in agreement: I love my adopted county, and the beautiful countryside and yummy local food are just two of the things that make this such a great place to live.

I also love the fact that the Sussex motto is "We Won't Be Druv" (ie no-one can tell us what to do), and the fact that it was the last county in England to be converted to Christianity.

I'm going to celebrate with a bun from the fine Sussex institution that is Forfars the Bakers: if I had the funds I'd be raising a glass of local fizz (so good even the French are jealous).

Happy Sussex Day!

PS I love the way the Tories manage to bring everything back to the *current economic climate*, even bloody Sussex Day.

Reasons To Be Cheerful: 1, 2, 3 (or, When Community Campaigning Works)

The past couple of weeks have seen some very encouraging results for community groups who have been campaigning on planning-related matters in Brighton & Hove.

This is cheerful news worth spreading, and a veritable feast of Davids "tekking" Goliaths (as my Yorkshire cousins might say):

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1. ANOTHER LONDON ROAD ~vs~ TESCO

Another London Road (ALR) is a community campaign group originally set up in response to Tesco's proposals to build a megastore with a 950-space car park next to Preston Circus, following a concerted effort by Tesco's (then) property partners St. James Investments to buy up as much land as possible in the London Road area.

Within weeks ALR had built up a Facebook following in its hundreds, swiftly followed up by a petition (signed by over 1,000 people) and a deputation to the Council, objecting to the fait accompli which was seemingly being presented to the community: you want an improved London Road? Only Tesco can deliver (hmm).

Happily, cracks began to show in the long-standing cosy relationship between Tesco and SJI in March this year (no doubt exacerbated by the *current economic climate*), and earlier this month The Argus reported that the London Road deal was off, citing the community opposition voiced by the ALR campaign as a deciding factor in the Tesco pull-out.

ALR are now busying themselves with preparing a response to the Council's draft London Road Masterplan, which is currently out for public consultation, and are set to continue the excellent work they've begun in encouraging the community to take an active part in deciding the future of the area's built environment.

Well done ALR!

And many thanks to Esther Springett for the above image from her 'Myth of London Road' community art project, which recently took place (appropriately enough) in the empty Co-Op department store (photo snapped by me at last week's Brighton Uni Degree Shows).

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2. THE MONTPELIER & CLIFTON HILL ASSOCIATION ~vs~ TAYLOR WIMPEY

When Taylor Wimpey acquired the old Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital site for several million pounds in 2006, the neighbouring community feared the worst - and they were soon proved right.

Far from working to preserve and incorporate the better parts of a greatly altered but nevertheless much-loved local landmark (predominantly designed by local Victorian architect Thomas Lainson), it became increasingly clear that TW were determined to raze the existing buildings to the ground in order to cram as many sub-standard flats onto the site as possible, thereby maximising their profit on a steep investment made at the height of the recent property boom.

The first application was recommended for refusal by Planning officers; the second (barely-altered) submission was not. The Planning Committee (of which I'm a member) voted on both occasions to refuse TW's underwhelming/overcrowding schemes, latterly against the officers' recommendations, which led to a recent appeal from TW by Public Inquiry.

Back in the day, Taylor Wimpey were a leviathan of house-building, beating opponents into submission with the sheer might of their financial resources, and getting crap schemes passed everywhere as a result.

But again, the *current economic climate* has seen TW experience severe financial difficulties in recent months: and in any case, I don't think they were remotely prepared for the robust, expertly-executed case put by representatives of the Montpelier & Clifton Hill Association, who represented residents at the hearing.

The MCHA's defense submissions were commended by Planning Inspector John Papworth, who happily found against the appeal.

[The council also did a grand job in the defence of this, and many thanks must go to Cllr Lynda Hyde (Planning Committee Chairman) for her indefatigable determination in securing the resources to fight this case and win it.]

The Inspector quite rightly noted the "strong affection for the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital as an institution and the values that it stood for", and expressed a clear wish that future proposals might see "some retention of the south façade,as being the part most in the public view, which contributes the most to the area and which [the Inspector] consider[s] could be seen as epitomising the children’s hospital".

Whether Taylor Wimpey choose to take this on board or not is up to them: what's clear is that, unlike the Highcroft Villas decision, Inspector John Papworth really has taken the views of the community on board in throwing this out.

Well done MCHA! Round 3 next.

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3. LEWES ROAD COMMUNITY GARDENERS ~vs~ THE MAN

Hot off the wires - from occupation to negotiation:

Cllr Keith Taylor has worked with the Lewes Road Community Gardeners to secure a temporary memorandum of understanding with the landlords, brokering a deal to protect a community garden set up on derelict space on Lewes Road in Brighton.

Keith, a Green Party councillor for the area, negotiated with owners of the land Alburn Retail Ltd [aka The Man. Ed.], who have agreed the garden can stay until the land is needed for development.

Keith said: “This is a brilliant use of redundant space being converted into a real community asset. Hats off to the Guerrilla Gardeners!

“I am very pleased to have brokered an agreement with the owners of the site Alburn Retail Ltd to enable the garden to continue until the land is needed for development.

“Seeing the results here makes one ask ‘how many other sites are there in the city that could benefit from this treatment?’'"

Fingers crossed that this excellent campaign can continue afoot, and more power to the Lewes Road Community Garden project's collective elbow - well done to all for getting this far, and well done to Keith for his skills in the negotiations with the current landowners!

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Onwards & upwards.

The ongoing saga of Anston House

In a few weeks' time it will be two years since developers bulldozed protected trees on the notorious Anston House site, sparking local outrage.


In October 2007, I presented a petition to the council signed by hundreds of residents, which resulted in the eventual prosecution and fining of the developer earlier this year - the first time Brighton & Hove City Council has taken legal action on the illegal felling of trees covered by Tree Protection Orders.

Conveniently enough, the developer declared himself bankrupt a few days before the case came to the Crown Court (hmm), thus escaping the maximum fine of £20,000 per tree. And now council officers are having difficulty in tracking him down in order to re-serve a Section 215 notice requiring him to tidy the land...

Several residents have contacted me over recent months asking when action is going to be taken to clear the site, and I met with Planning Enforcement officers last week for an update. It seems the s215 notice they served earlier in the year was not officially registered as having been received, so unfortunately the only option is to re-serve it, by hand to the registered company offices.

Once the s215 has been re-served, the landowner will have 8 weeks to clear the site, removing all the rubble, building materials, parked up vehicles etc. If no action is taken by the landowner by the end of this period, the council will employ contractors to clear the site, placing a charge on the land.

I'm disappointed that it's taking so long to get somewhere with this: the site is in a truly shocking state. I'll be asking for an update from officers later in the week to get confirmation of the revised timescales for action on this.


In the current economic climate, in my opinion it's highly unlikely that anything will be built on the site anytime soon... Perhaps we should take a leaf out of the Lewes Road community gardeners' book once the land has been cleared?

Dirty Beach

Gorgeous day today. Mr K & I headed for the seafront, taking in Chloe Hanks & Lou McCurdy's Dirty Beach exhibition on the way.

I first got to know Chloe and Lou when I called on the Council to take action on single-use plastic bags in Brighton & Hove way back in October '07: Chloe is the founder of Plastic Bag Free Brighton, and Lou was then working on her More Plastic Than Plankton project.

Although the Tories have reneged on their supposed commitment to [*ahem*] "eliminate" the free issue of plastic bags in the city (not appropriate in the "current economic climate", apparently - hmm), it's great to see that Lou and Chloe are still pressing the point that disposable plastic and other litter is damaging our environment, and making thought-provoking art in getting this message across.


The exhibition was excellent, and has attracted rave reviews from the Times (amongst others) during the recent Festival. Lou's textural panels (made from the plastic flotsam she gleans from local beaches) contrast wonderfully with graphic designer Chloe's (100% bio-degradable!) eco-graffiti. Here are some highlights:


















Chloe takes advantage of the snow!

Anyone for tennis?

Hanksy at large


Well done Lou & Chloe, and thank you for a wonderful free exhibition - keep up the good work.

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From one Dirty Beach to another: Mr K & I continued our peregrinations down to the seafront, with our sights set on a tasty smoked fish sandwich from The Brighton Smokehouse for lunch. As we waited in the queue, I admired their sign:



































Look! The fish is smoking! :0


While it was great to see traders doing so well today on the seafront, sadly our hunger got the better of us, and after 10 minutes' queuing we decided to head over to the Kemptown side of the beach (where it's generally quieter) in search of lunch, finally hitting upon the fish & chips joint near the Crazy Golf.

"Do you think this fish is from sustainable stocks?" asked Mr K wryly. I guessed not, as I eyed up the plastic debris eddying round the cafe tables:


































Two things:

1. What is wrong with people? There are bins every ten yards or so on the beach. For pity's sake, please pick up your litter and bin it, you lazy idiots. As they say in Suffolk, don't be a tosser.

2. If Glastonbury Festival can stipulate that all food traders use biodegradable / compostable / recyclable plates & cutlery etc, what is stopping Brighton & Hove City Council from working with traders to introduce similar measures on the seafront?

More on this soon I hope, in conjunction with work I've been doing on sustainability at events in the city...