Comments posted on the London Road plans
St James Investments own a significant amount of property in the London Road area, most notably Vantage Point and Circus Parade. In July of last year, they presented a proposal for a large redevelopment covering the north end of London Road as far as Richer Sounds and going as far back as New England House. Their development plans included a very large three-storey Tesco superstore, and a car park of around 950 spaces. For more details, see their website.
Another London Road is a group of local residents and shoppers who feel that there is another way to revitalise London Road, and that a large supermarket and car park would be detrimental to the many existing small shops and businesses, and to the already congested roads. We have been gathering the views of local people, and submitted a deputation to the Council in January. We also have a petition with currently over 1,000 signatures. Visit our website for more information, and to sign the petition (you don’t have to pay).
Following their presentation in July, St James Investments were inactive for a while, but since the beginning of the year have been back, speaking to several businesses and stakeholders in the area and expressing an interest in buying the Fire Station on Preston Circus amongst other things.
In the meantime, the Council are working at finalising the Strategic Planning Document for the London Road area. This is a key document, as planning decisions have to be guided by this, and any appeals against a planning decision may be upheld if there are any grounds in the SPD. This document should be publicly released for a final consultation in mid April, and will be well worth a look. We will be encouraging as many people as possible to review this document and contribute to the Council’s plans are for the area over the next ten years.
As for Another London Road, we are working towards using all the ideas people have given us to develop an alternative vision for the area. We’ve had an initial discussion with Pooran Desai from Bioregional Quintain, the developer behind the One Brighton development in the New England Quarter, and architects BBM.
We are also holding a fundraising evening at the Duke of York’s Picturehouse on Tuesday April 21st at 6.30pm. There will be a special showing of the Oscar-winning film Man on Wire, with profits to go towards Another London Road, and we’ll be there with the latest information on what’s going on. Please encourage everyone you know to come along and support our cause!
