Business leaders have united in condemnation of Brighton and Hove City Council's decision to scrap a park-and-ride scheme.

One described it as a "body blow to the future prosperity of the city".

Councillors last week voted against plans to build a 450-space car park and linked bus scheme at Patcham Court Farm in Brighton.

The decision threw into disarray the council's entire transport vision for the city, which included a high-speed bus system and interlinked public transport scheme.

The council's bid for £19 million Government funding relied on the plans being approved and it now has to go back to the drawing board.

Sussex Enterprise, which represents the county chamber of commerce groups, said the decision had deprived the city of a vital scheme to reduce congestion.

Chief executive Mark Froud said: "It seems absurd to turn down such a fantastic opportunity to improve Brighton's transport infrastructure.

"Councillors had previously agreed that Brighton needed a new park-and-ride, now they have made a U-turn and decided they don't.

"The business community in Brighton and across the county desperately needs radical action to reduce the congestion which is stifling the economy.

"Traffic congestion is the biggest problem facing businesses in Brighton and Hove, costing the local economy an estimated £100 million per year.

"What Brighton and Hove Council has done is effectively ignore the wishes of the business community and announce that Brighton is closed for business.

"We would like to know what their plans are as they don't appear to have any at the moment.

"Brighton is visited by about eight million people every year who come to shop, attend conferences or do business. A quarter of the workers do not actually live in the city and most commute in.

"There has been huge support from the business community for an effective park-and-ride and it's tragic that this strength of feeling has been ignored.

"Something needs to be done now to improve access for both visitors and workers alike."

Tony Mernagh, executive director of the Brighton and Hove Economic Partnership, said: "For a council that has the expansion of park-and-ride as one of the key planks of its existing transport plan, the business community will struggle to understand why the city is effectively back to square one with it after ten years of debate.

"With 13,000 jobs and £380 million of revenue dependent on getting visitors into the city, the loss of an option that could have delivered half a million of them is a body blow to the future prosperity of the visitor economy."

Shaun Trumble, chairman of the Brighton and Hove Hotels Association, has written to Garry Peltzer Dunn, leader of the Conservative Party at Brighton and Hove City Council, asking why his party voted against the park-and-ride scheme.

In the letter - a copy of which was sent to The Argus - he argues tourism is the lifeblood of the city and it is "unthinkable the industry should be allowed to suffer".

The letter states: "I understand you and your colleagues were largely responsible for the defeat of this project and my members are intrigued to learn what your proposals are for the future of the transport system and for getting eight million visitors into Brighton each year.

"Given that rail links to the city are already running well over capacity and that we have what can only be described as an excuse for a bus station, many visitors are left with the option of sitting in a car up to two hours from the outskirts of the city.

"If that is not the best way to put visitors off the idea of ever returning to Brighton, I can't imagine what is. They will then take themselves and their money elsewhere."

Mr Peltzer Dunn said the application was "not a park-and-ride scheme". He claimed its 450 parking spaces would be full by 8am.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005