WE WERE pleased to see the letter from Chris Todd of Friends of the Earth (“Aquarium Roundabout must go and we must do more for cycling”).  His argument for removing the roundabout was nonsensical

but his letter did at least offer an insight into the deception behind current plans for the last stage (‘phase 3’) of the Valley Gardens scheme. 

Although deriding a previous letter to The Argus criticising roundabout removal (‘Roundabout data needs proper analysis before the rhetoric’) he conveniently skips its central point, namely:

“Thirteen casualties from 11 accidents in the context of 18 and a quarter million vehicles of all types using the roundabout each year equates to a ratio of 0.0000007 per cent”

- a far better outcome than other junctions in the city centre.  Moreover, according to their own commissioned report, the council’s preferred option for phase 3 – a traffic lights T-Junction - is less safe and more likely to create congestion than a remodelled roundabout.  As for cycling – the provision of dedicated cycle paths that avoid any roundabout is not in dispute.

The mendacity at the heart of the council plan is evident in Chris’s letter.  He has seen the data and like the town hall’s Labour leadership knows full well that retaining a re-modelled roundabout

is the safe, clean air option - but can’t admit it.   With the spin on accident stats debunked, the city’s admirable climate emergency declaration is now cynically weaponised to bludgeon through a scheme that will make congestion and air quality worse.   

So here’s why we should thank Chris Todd - on the climate emergency he scolds the city for its ‘wild promises but very little meaningful action’.  He says, we ‘desperately’ need to reduce emissions and ‘shift people out of their cars’.  More walking/cycling/electric buses, less unnecessary car use - fair enough.  And he’s recently spoken of the ‘winners and losers’ resulting from this scheme. 

But who really loses? 

Why does the council’s Valley Gardens ‘masterplan’ not include a health warning to the workers or the residents of east Brighton? (an area which includes some of the poorest neighbourhoods). 

Why not tell them that the years of congestion that are intended to ‘shift’ car driver behaviour rests on the edict ‘CO2 beats NO2’.  Did they forget to mention the air will likely be poisoned and congestion will damage the economy?  For how long? Years? Decades?

For almost a year, the community has been calling for a full Environmental Impact Assessment.  Council officers openly admit they have no answers and shamelessly declare “no air or noise modelling has been undertaken”.  Meanwhile our ward councillors look like rabbits frozen in the headlights when we ask them to support us. This is unacceptable. 

The most depressing thing is that the goal of CO2, NO2 and PM 2.5 reduction, less traffic more space to cycle and walk is there for the taking – a hybrid of the options the council originally reviewed as recently as 2014 – one based on sound analysis and democratic participation.

Serena Birt   - Blaker Street

Chloe Hillier  - Blaker Street

Annie Hill  - White Street

Julia Basnett - Carlton Hill

Abha Aggarwal - White Street

Peter Harrap - Mighell Street

Tony Adams - White Street

Alicia Mackie - Milner Flats

Adrian Hart - Carlton Hill

Lee Rolf - Dorset Street/Mews