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Dear Lynette Gwyn Jones, Alison Hermitage and John Ballance,
I am writing to you as a member of the Brighton and Hove community
whom you, as councillors, are in post to serve‚ and listen
to. The reason for writing to you is my concern about the deaf
ears that yourselves on the Council seem to be demonstrating
as regards the substantial opposition in the community you are
here to represent to the proposal of a supermarket and car park
as part of the development on the station site.
What are councils for if not to represent the people, and there
are those from across the community who are opposed to such
proposals and have consistently vocalised this opposition in
a variety of ways.
We are fortunate that in our community we have an effective
vehicle that has evolved in recent years specifically to examine
and explore the implications of any developments on the Brighton
Station site. Due to the hard work and dedication of local people,
on a voluntary basis, the wider community has been well served
by the organisation Brighton Urban Design and Development (BUDD).
This organisation has kept us, the wider community, informed
of the significant details of proposals being put on the table
as regards the potential use of this valuable site. I have attended
many informative and useful meetings, which have encouraged
healthy debate amongst disparate groups and individuals about
possible alternatives. Speakers from other bodies, eg.architects,
community development organisations, have delivered inspiring
plans / ideas/ possibilities for the station site to such meetings.
These planning ideas do not necessitate the building of yet
another supermarket and at the same time have proved to be economically
and socially viable and beneficial to the local community enhancing
what is already there rather than being shaped by the demands
of multi-national companies.
Such innovative presentations have shown that sustainable multi-use
developments are possible and also exciting for Brighton and
Hove. We could be- and perhaps should be - a beacon to others
in preventing the over-saturation of homogenised supermarket
car-driven living, which has increased at an alarming pace across
Britain in recent years.
Budd‚s hard work, sense of vision and social/economic responsibility
as local people of Brighton and Hove is admirable and perhaps
you should learn from their creative and inspiring example.
I am writing to you because I am feeling particularly
disheartened (disillusioned?) by the response of some councillors,
yourselves included, to the constructive oppositions put forward
by those of us living in the community. Such opposition is perhaps
best represented by the more collective, one could argue holistic‚
- voice of Budd which has pulled together all sorts of people
with generally diverse but stimulating views -who are strongly
opposed to the idea of a Supermarket and parking facilities
which will inevitably cause yet more horrendous congestion in
Brighton and the area around the station in particular. I only
have to look at the recent development on Dyke Road, where a
local Tescos has been added to a garage, to see the terrible
impact on local traffic. Cars block up a junction on the Dyke
Road as they queue their way in and out of the supermarket;
the traffic prior to this was always relatively free flowing.
The thought of this happening around the station and Brighton,
which already suffers from tremendous traffic congestion, makes
my heart sink.
New Labour‚ is beginning to realise the costs of ignoring
the voices coming up from the grass roots witness the local
election results and Ken Livingstone‚s triumph in London.
Perhaps you should take heed if you want to remain in office.
Yours in dissatisfaction,
Name
suppled
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