City unable to cope with extra cars say campaigners
The University of Brighton and developer U+I’s plans for the Georgian Preston Barracks site in Lewes Road, Brighton, includes 369 homes, 804 student bedrooms and a new home for the university’s business school.
The £150 million scheme on the Lewes Road is part of a wider regeneration project aimed at transforming this part of Brighton.
Environmental campaigns claim increased parking as part of the planned development will keep nearby air pollution levels above the legal limit.
Campaigners from the environmental group Brighton and Hove Friends of the Earth (BHFOE) is objecting to the proposal to increase parking on the grounds of traffic and air pollution.
The group claims that the proposed development, which is being considered today by Brighton & Hove City Council’s planning committee, risks delaying compliance of nearby roads with the legal limits for nitrogen dioxide.
Chris Todd of BHFOE said: ”The increase in traffic and congestion arising from the development would…attribute to the approx. 28% increase in car parking on the site.”
He also said that it is “somewhat ironic that the University of Brighton is behind a development that will increase air pollution.”
The University of Brighton is known for actively promoting its green credentials. In fact its vice chancellor was recently warning of the need to urgently tackle air pollution. Academics from the university have undertaken ground-breaking work in this field and have strongly criticised the Government’s poor response to the issue of air pollution.
The results of a recent air quality assessment conducted by the city council found that pollution levels to the south of the barracks in Hollingdean Road, the Vogue Gyratory and Lewes Road south of the Vogue Gyratory currently “exceed standards for the protection of human health.”
The council’s Air Quality Action Plan 2015 states there are almost 180 premature deaths each year in the city due to air pollution.
A spokesman from the University of Brighton said: “The entire scheme has been designed around enabling and encouraging the use of public transport and improving access and facilities for cyclists, pedestrians and electric vehicle users.”
They added: “The transport plan…will minimise the impact on traffic on Lewes Road and there will be no overall increase in the total number of university car parking spaces.”
By Clare Calder
