[Brighton] Valley Gardens works

[Freddie Goodwin.]

Fantastic pictures of when this was a beautiful park rather than a Council Rec. There is a FB group - Brighton Past - that I'm sure would like to see these.

There's also a talk on Valley Gardens, I think it's on Oct 3rd, featuring local historian Geoffrey mead, as well as looking at the new scheme. He's quite a knowledgeable & entertaining chap and the event is free.

 

[Official Old Man]

[MENTION=259]Jack Straw[/MENTION] Some wonderful photos. [MENTION=435]Stat Brother[/MENTION] I'm not asking for a motorway put through the middle.
We all agree that the gardens DID look beautiful and at the moment the traffic, whilst moving very slow, at least moves. So why change it? The gardens wont be much bigger except for a small strip in front of St Peters Church. My guess is that of the millions of pounds budget, 95% is on roads and 5% on the gardens. Why not spend 95% on the gardens. Maybe get B&Q or Wyevale involved as sponsors.

 

[Stat Brother]

[MENTION=259]Jack Straw[/MENTION] Some wonderful photos. [MENTION=435]Stat Brother[/MENTION] I'm not asking for a motorway put through the middle.
We all agree that the gardens DID look beautiful and at the moment the traffic, whilst moving very slow, at least moves. So why change it? The gardens wont be much bigger except for a small strip in front of St Peters Church. My guess is that of the millions of pounds budget, 95% is on roads and 5% on the gardens. Why not spend 95% on the gardens. Maybe get B&Q or Wyevale involved as sponsors.

What's the point of spending on the gardens when they are all but inaccessible, and in an area of outstanding noise and air pollution?

 

[AK74]

Less students.
Less litter.
Less graffiti.
Less people arguing while drunk / drug-addled outside a hostel or defecating in some bushes.
Less ugly architectural carbuncles.
Less queuing traffic.

Oh to have the Brighton of those photographs again.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I often pass an admiring glance when I pass "Your garden" as I call it. Community gardens are popping up all over the place, all kept to a very high standard due to the people involved having that fanatisicm. I notice there's a nice one opposite in Albion Street by the newly built Brookmead flats.

Fanaticism.

 

[Jack Straw]

Fanaticism.

Perhaps I should have shown more fanaticism towards my spelling?! Didn't go Sunday did you? I chickened out due to the rain.

 

[Jack Straw]

The real demise of this area started at the end of 1998 when all the low railings around Old Steine, South and North Victoria Gardens were removed before the dress-rehearsal for the Millennium celebrations as a safety measure to stop people falling over them in the dark and of course, the compensation this would have brought with it. People weren't allowed on the grass in these areas at that time. After the millennium celebrations to welcome the year 2000 in, we had the arrival of the Ladyboys of Bangkok at South Vic, and the Spielgetent in the Old Steine. Although just for the Brighton Festival, it wasn't possible to get the lawns back looking good due to the public being able to access these sites. Not a bad thing, but all helped towards the mess the gardens are in today. You can see the fencing and absence of public in the photos I posted earlier. The railings were never put back. The cost would have been extortionate. However, all the sections were recycled, being used in various projects in parks throughout the city.

 

[osgood]

On Monday the town centre is going to be closed down for a few months (you thought a bloke throwing bricks was bad?) whilst the council upgrade Valley Gardens. Those unsure this is the area where the Lady Boys pitch their tent. I've had a hard look at the plans and, from what I can see, they are dropping four lanes of congested traffic down to two lanes to make it better.
All cars will use what is now the southbound A23 past St Peters and along Grand Parade. This will be two way. The existing northbound will become a bus lane. How on earth can turning four lanes into two make it better?
Traffic for the A27/A270 for Lewes will have to stay in the same lane as traffic queuing to get out on the A23. Has anyone from the council any idea at all about the real life?

No, if any have , theyre outvoted by those that dont !
https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/co...sport-and-road-safety/a-vision-valley-gardens

This it what happens due to high student population and Inertia from the rest !

 

[Mark Mywords]

They look great Jack, but parks need to be open to people, they shouldn't.t be fenced off.

 

[Stat Brother]

Just a thought [MENTION=259]Jack Straw[/MENTION], any chance of going back to the same(ish) places and taking those photos again, for a 'compare and contrast' feature?

 

[Jack Straw]

They look great Jack, but parks need to be open to people, they shouldn't.t be fenced off.

I'm in agreement with you there. I was telling it how it used to be and what happened. In my previous post I mentioned that the removal of the fencing wasn't a bad thing.

 

[goldstone]

Thanks very much for the photos

It’s only when you see them you realise the alarming scale of the decline then shudder to think of what’s to come.

It never fails to confuse me. It’s not like there was no pressure on public funds at local or national level at the time those photos we’re taken (there was probably 3m unemployed to pay for) so if we could do it then, why not now? Maybe we’ve got to get out of the habit of voting for the parties that promise us the biggest tax cuts (that’s not a dig at any party, it’s a dig at our increasingly individualistic culture). I for one would be happy to pay a good chunk extra in tax to live in a city which looked like it did in those photos.

Well done to all those currently giving their time to the upkeep of our city. More will have to do the same.

Have to agree with you. How beautiful the area once looked. And how embarrassing that it has been allowed to deteriorate to such an extent.

 

[Triggaaar]

Has anyone from the council any idea at all about the real life?

No.

 

[Jack Straw]

Just a thought [MENTION=259]Jack Straw[/MENTION], any chance of going back to the same(ish) places and taking those photos again, for a 'compare and contrast' feature?

How's this?

 

[Jack Straw]

More...

 

[Sirnormangall]

I get all the arguments both for and against these “improvements” , but it surely begs the question whether there’s nothing more important to spend this money on?

 

[Wardy's twin]

Check the live times on the bus app and plan your journey accordingly. It's not that much of a chore, is it? Of course the bus takes longer but you can listen to a podcast or read a book on the way. If more people used the bus, there'd be more of them and less traffic.

Sorry but saying I need plan just doesn't cut it. Tell me why a every 20 mins service actually had a 40 minute gap. Why is it that the real time service has shown a bus due in 5 mins then it just disappears. Some parts of the town are well served by buses , others e.g. Woodingdean are poor relations. Get the buses right and people will use them.

 

[Mark Mywords]

I get all the arguments both for and against these “improvements” , but it surely begs the question whether there’s nothing more important to spend this money on?

The money comes from the government, it gets spent on Valley gardens, or it goes back.

 

[The Large One]

Sorry but saying I need plan just doesn't cut it. Tell me why a every 20 mins service actually had a 40 minute gap. Why is it that the real time service has shown a bus due in 5 mins then it just disappears. Some parts of the town are well served by buses , others e.g. Woodingdean are poor relations. Get the buses right and people will use them.

People do use them.

Outside London, which you can't compare to, Brighton has one of the highest public transport uses in the country.

 

[Wardy's twin]

People do use them.

Outside London, which you can't compare to, Brighton has one of the highest public transport uses in the country.

I don't doubt it. I suspect the huge student population helps with this.

i don't disagree with using buses indeed the opposite I think in a 'green world' public transport is the way forward but it needs to be properly supported by the council. If I were on the number 1 bus route I would be happy , buses to Woodingdean though are very poor and have got worse over the years , I have lived for 50+ years and remember 4 different buses which had different routes e.g. you could get to Hollingdean via a no6 (or 48) and the 53 or 54. No need to go anywhere near centre of the town.