“If you were to take someone to the Seven Dials intersection who’d never been there before, what would they think?”

This was the question that was posed by Abby Hone (Principal Transport Planner at BHCC) to a small group of residents and business owners who attended the West Hill Action Team meeting on Tuesday 1 May 2012.

Ms. Hone was met with a barrage of opinions that showed the strength of feeling about the area. These ranged from the dangers of navigating the crossings for pedestrians (in particular children and older people); the amount of traffic that crosses the junction (2,000 vehicles an hour in peak time); to the unattractive railings and the roundabout itself, that detract from the historical architecture which surrounds it.

Residents and business owners also felt strongly that the problems with the junction meant that ‘Seven Dials village’ is effectively cut off into two separate areas, north and south of the Dials.

The good news is that the Council has earmarked some funding to make improvements to the area – £200k this year (2012/13), £300k in 2013/14 and £50k the year after (2014/15). In order to make sure that any proposals for the junction area meet our local needs we need more local people’s voices to be heard.  An initial consultation meeting will take place before the summer.

If you would like to come along to the initial consultation meeting, please email travel.planning@brighton-hove.gov.uk to be included on the invitation list.

Kate Kirkham