Traders express anger at Brighton city centre roadworks

11:09am Sunday 12th August 2012 in News By Bill Gardner

WORKS: Traders are angry at these roadworks WORKS: Traders are angry at these roadworks

Traders fear roadworks during a busy summer period will cost them thousands of pounds in lost trade.

Southern Water said the emergency work follows the collapse of a sewer under North Street at the junction with New Road.

In June The Argus revealed North Street will have to be ripped up and totally resurfaced because of the prolonged damage caused by years of slapdash repairs.

No date has yet been set for the work to begin on the busy road, which connects Old Steine with Churchill Square .

Brighton and Hove City Council claimed the latest repairs would be completed by Monday afternoon – but Southern Water said their crews would not move out until Wednesday.

Claudia Meynell-Fisher, the manager at nearby gift store Purple Heart, said: “This work is going to cause me thousands of pounds in lost business. It cost me £400 pounds in three hours this morning.”

Tracey Morrison, the manager of Bravissimo clothes shop, said: “It has been very quiet this week and I think it is down to the roadworks. Nobody has told us anything about it.”

A spokesman for Southern Water said: “Repair workers will dig down four metres to reach the sewer and carry out the repair.

“We are working closely with Brighton and Hove City Council Highways to ensure that traffic congestion is minimised. The repair is expected to be complete by August 15.”

A spokeswoman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: “We apologise for the inconvenience to road users but these are essential works by Southern Water to ensure safety on one of the busiest bus routes in the city.”

What do you think? Write to the letters editor or email letters@theargus.co.uk.

Comments(16)

Gardenboy says...
11:33am Sun 12 Aug 12

Its not just North Street. There seems to be roadworks all over Brighton at the moment, a ridiculous time of year to do it!

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Hove Actually says...
11:38am Sun 12 Aug 12

When would you fix a sewer that collapses then?

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Hermit 101 says...
11:57am Sun 12 Aug 12

"It cost me £400 pounds in three hours this morning.”

My my someone is dreaming of a compensation claim!!!!

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Enema of the peephole says...
12:08pm Sun 12 Aug 12

When will traders learn that they are there simply to pay taxes and employ people to also pay taxes.

For the system to keep running the way it does it is essential to respect the independence of utility companies making vast profits and paying big bonuses to unaccountable publicly schooled morons.

The great and the good know best: if tax payers start getting value-for-money then they'll only start questioning other dysfunctional organisations involved in transport and defence...then where will we be?

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leobrighton says...
1:10pm Sun 12 Aug 12

I can't see how this work could have affected shops. North Street is still crowded with pedestrians. Seems like they want to have a good moan and grab some compo

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Allan says...
1:40pm Sun 12 Aug 12

leobrighton wrote:
I can't see how this work could have affected shops. North Street is still crowded with pedestrians. Seems like they want to have a good moan and grab some compo
I agree, unless they are right on the junction, it won't affect them

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Ballroom Blitz says...
1:42pm Sun 12 Aug 12

The council are useless with regard to the lack of planning re roadworks.
In fact there seems to be no planning at all.
Could these very disruptive road works in the centre of town really not have waited another month - when the holiday season is just about over, and the kids are back at school?
Of course they could.

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Lady Smith says...
1:46pm Sun 12 Aug 12

Hermit 101 wrote:
"It cost me £400 pounds in three hours this morning.”

My my someone is dreaming of a compensation claim!!!!
Yes, I was wondering how she'd calculated that so accurately as well!

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leobrighton says...
2:12pm Sun 12 Aug 12

Ballroom Blitz wrote:
The council are useless with regard to the lack of planning re roadworks.
In fact there seems to be no planning at all.
Could these very disruptive road works in the centre of town really not have waited another month - when the holiday season is just about over, and the kids are back at school?
Of course they could.
Its a sewer collapse. It needs repairing as soon as it happens. Otherwise it would end up with vehicles dropping into a big hole full of .....

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chrisinbrighton says...
2:12pm Sun 12 Aug 12

Mr French should be made to pay the costs bigger and heav[er busses causing damage to whats victorian sewage systems
why on earth can't busses use the seafront like they used to ?

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ShorehamBeachcomber says...
2:14pm Sun 12 Aug 12

Oh dear....a year or so ago at the next junction up there was a sign saying the old sewers had lasted a century but these new huge yellow plastic ones will last longer....

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Grey Owl says...
6:33pm Sun 12 Aug 12

It's funny how, according to some posters, Roger French can be blamed somehow for everything that goes wrong. Presumably there are similar sewers under the seafront. 40 ton artic lorries twice the weight of a bus go up and down North Street all day long.

There never has been a time when the buses used the seafront. North Street is where people want to get on and off. Actually, though, the traffic flow has been better while the work has been going on. I wonder if all the routes need to stop there ? Also those pedestrian lights that are always red for the buses, stopping them moving away from the stops could maybe move further towards the Clock Tower and allow more green for traffic ?

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Helena Handcart says...
7:14pm Sun 12 Aug 12

Poo Happens!

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Maxwell's Ghost says...
8:37pm Sun 12 Aug 12

Whenever it's hot people head to the sea front and the traders do a good trade yet the city centre shops are empty.
When the weather is crap, the sea front is empty and town busier.
Who wants to traipse around shops full of old tat when we have a rare, beautiful weekend of sunshine.

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Andy R says...
1:53am Mon 13 Aug 12

Those darned sewers...collapsing in a totally unplanned fashion.

Shouldn't be allowed.....

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wippasnapper says...
9:01pm Sun 19 Aug 12

there’s gas works, there’s water works, there cycle line works then there’s your highways works dig a hull in the road and then leve it for god knows how long then there your general builder blocking the pavement or cars and trucks parking on the pavement it’s a mayhem of madness, summer time stress, see they cant dig a hull in winter because it fills with water plus its to dam cold to stand around watching the motorists getting naf’ed off with all the delays, no its got to be summer times so they can bask in the sun and take longer brakes duo to heat excision health and safety and all that cobblers.

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