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Station developers hit back at critics
The
developers of a major site in Brighton and Hove say it will
provide a huge, revitalising boost to the city. The New England
Consortium has hit back at critics who say the scheme for the
Brighton station site should be rejected.
Chris
Gilbert, of development managers QED, said the site had been
blighted for more than 30 years because successive schemes had
been dropped after strong opposition. He said: "Now another
scheme, which is over two years in the making and specifically
designed to halt this cycle of decline, is under attack."
Mr
Gilbert said the consortium had tried to learn from the criticisms
of past proposals. He said: "This has been done in a spirit
of compromise which is so obviously lacking in those of our
critics, for whom nothing we propose seems acceptable and who
enjoy the luxury of being able to ignore the commercial facts
of life." Mr Gilbert said there had been extensive consultation
on the scheme despite attacks on the developers for trying to
keep it a secret.
He
said: "It has probably been one of the most widely-discussed
planning proposals in the city's history." He said accusations
a model of the site had been hidden away were silly since the
aim was for as many people to see it as possible. Mr Gilbert
said a new Sainsbury's store in the scheme would boost the London
Road area while the old store would be taken over by a leading
household goods firm.
Critics
had suggested there should be no parking for the store but the
194-space car park was intended for shoppers to encourage them
to link trips to London Road with visits to North Laine businesses.
There
were many other improvements for pedestrians while cycle routes
were also proposed. Mr Gilbert said developers had been criticised
for including two hotels in the scheme despite the fact Brighton
and Hove was strenuously promoting itself as a key conference
and visitor attraction.
There
would also be a new building intended as the headquarters of
the leading international education organisation, Study Group,
providing 300 jobs. Its existing buildings in the city would
be released for housing. The station site itself would provide
285 badly-needed houses and flats, many for social housing.
There would also be affordable housing for 300 key workers.
Mr Gilbert said: "Some have been critical of our architectural
designs but we do not apologise for them.
"Despite
what my critics may say, architecture is a subjective matter.
What one person likes, another may not. "Few major buildings
attract universal praise and often architects themselves are
the biggest critics of what their colleagues have designed."
Mr
Gilbert said: "No scheme of this magnitude will please
all the people all the time. "But we are convinced that
what we have devised is by far the best chance yet of bringing
to an end the sorry saga of this declining site and giving the
area the revitalising investment boost it now richly deserves.
"The council knows how hard we have tried to achieve a
successful scheme and we urge councillors to support it."
Read
Richard Paul-Jones' reply in Letters
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