The picture above shows the recycling bins in Buckingham Road. When The Whistler printed edition went to press on 19 January, the usual weekend build-up of bottles and recycling detritus was in full swing. Bill and Maria Eady, used to enjoy living in Buckingham Road but their lives have changed since the recycling bins have been placed right outside their door. When they are not full to bursting, crashing bottles being dumped in the bins at all hours of the day and night are a familiar sound. Since then, the bottle bin has been removed altogether and relocated to Buckingham Street.
On the Letters page Councillor Pete West provides a lame response to the issue of non-collection since the Christmas period. The point is that since weekly kerbside collections in West Hill were replaced by the woefully inadequate collection from communal bins, has anyone from the council actually monitored the required frequency of collection to prevent the West Hill conservation area from regularly looking like a slum?
While flat roofs are refused planning permission by the council for being ‘visually harmful’, the same council’s actions have allowed this visually horrific situation to build up. However, residents must also take some responsibility for adding to the rubbish piles. Do we think about walking a bit further to find another bin or taking our recycling home until the bins are empty? Do we just curse the council and toss the recycling into the non-recycling bin anyway as we’re on our way somewhere else?
Jim Gowans, WHCA’s rep on the Conservation Advisory Group, assesses local developments….
SQUEEZED OUT
As more and more permissions are granted in the West Hill Conservation Area for existing garages to be converted into dwellings and as the City Council announces the reduction of on-street parking to make way for re-cycling bins let us hope that front gardens either here or in the outer neighbourhoods of Brighton are not to be further sacrificed by being made into hard standings for vehicles as pressure to find car parking spaces increases. A recent application concerns Clifton Street where two one bedroom flats are proposed to replace the lower ground floor parking lot. Continue reading Local developments→
Jim Gowans, WHCA’s rep on the Conservation Advisory Group, assesses local developments…
Buckingham Lodge, Buckingham Place
Neighbours have been dismayed to see that work has now begun on the construction of an additional storey to this uninspiring 70s block of flats, which is adjacent to the West Hill Hall in Compton Avenue. Despite local opposition, permission to build six one bedroom flats on top of the existing three storey block (which contains 18 two bedroom flats) was granted in 2008 and renewed last year. A planning inspector had previously noted that the existing building was “prominent”, “uncharacteristic of the majority of buildings in the conservation area” and “visually intrusive”. These were hardly reasons, it would seem, for adding a further floor on top! The height of the new building will now exceed that of the buildings on either side and be above the existing trees. Continue reading Building Planning Matters→
Improvements to the listed Mocatta building and the station concourse are generally welcomed but there are concerns that the removal of the taxi rank to make way for more retail units by the south entrance will inconvenience passengers and residents, whilst taking trade from local shops.
A bizarre idea to remove the station forecourt canopy is being considered; the idea is to give visitors “a sense of arrival”. Perhaps the plan is to force people to take shelter in the forecourt’s new shops and spend some money whilst they work out how to find a taxi.
West Hill Road
It is pleasing to note that several of the 19thcentury houses in this road have recently restored timber framed sash windows to match the original designs. On the other hand a householder in Gloucester Road has run foul of the planning authority by fitting plastic windows and doors. It may well prove to be an expensive mistake and a reminder to others contemplating major building work to consult the City Council first.
Crown Gardens
An application has been made to demolish a detached three bedroom house, which is next to the rear of the Masonic Temple in Queen’s Road, and replace it with three town houses each with three bedrooms. No plans for the proposed houses seem to be available online; it must be assumed that the proposed rooms will be rather small! Jim Gowans
Everything you ever wanted to know about life in Brighton (OK, and Hove)
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