I HAD the misfortune on Tuesday, May 18, of witnessing the singularly dismal spectacle of the forced eviction of the Mound community garden in North Street, Brighton.

A bulldozer and a group of “black block” bailiffs, dressed no doubt for maximum intimidation value, moved in to overcome a force of vicious flower beds and planted food crops, a subversive wildlife reserve and a domestic terrorist frog pond. These had been placed there by “guerrilla gardeners” on a piece of land that had been derelict, covered in rubbish and boarded up by ugly fencing for more than 12 years.

Ironically, one of the vehicles driven by these individuals had a car sticker for the Army charity Help For Heroes, but there was nothing heroic about this.

The reason why such “heroic” bailiffs moved in, was so the owners could re-assert their rights according to the laws of private property – laws which must be obeyed without question.

The fact remains that, despite evident support for the Mound garden by local residents on the day, the land does not have planning permission to be built on, and doesn’t seem likely to obtain it in the near future. The land will revert to being a blighted rubbish dump, which local residents can thank the owners for.

If planning permission is given, we can be sure that it would either be for flats in a heavily congested area, or office blocks that will remain empty due to the present economic climate.

The ground floor of the development would no doubt be leased to a supermarket chain – we obviously have a severe lack of these in the city.

All in all, this was a good day for rubble, and possibly concrete, but not such a good day for communal open spaces, gardens, residents’ wishes and common sense.

Andrew Fishman, Chichester Place, Brighton