The Round Hill Society

Carelet

See also:
Local residents' comments on Round Hill's Open Spaces provision

A vision for the Open Space to the rear of 67 to 81 Princes Road
Roundhill has no public open space but is interwoven by various green garden corridors which are a characteristic feature of the Conservation Area and can be seen from afar. The development plot used to be one of these, until the current owners removed the trees and applied herbicide. This inner-city community cannot afford to lose any of its green spaces.

The government’s ‘Assessing needs and opportunities: A Companion Guide to PPG17’ states, The value of open spaces, irrespective of who owns them, depends primarily on two things: the extent to which they meet clearly identified local needs and the wider benefits they generate for people, wildlife, biodiversity and the wider environment.’

This area has screened part of our street from the railway and the former Hollingdean Depot for over a hundred years, and also, more recently, the Hughes Road Industrial Estate. With the building of the new, huge, Waste Transfer Station and Materials Recovery Facility screening is now more vital than ever before, not only for aesthetic reasons, but also for noise mitigation and dust control.

There is no room for Veolia to plant screening on the south side of these edifices, and, since Railtrack have now removed all the railway trees the outlook from the north side of Princes Road is bleak. The noise and dust has been worse than ever before.

This plot has, in the past, supported a variety of wildlife, which have been logged at www.citywildlife.org.uk (map reference TQ 31703 05886) There were newts and slow-worms, foxes, hedgehogs and squirrels, and a variety of birds including jays, swifts and collared doves.

We urge you to withdraw the 'principle of development' on this plot and to allow this formerly green oasis to regrow, to act as a screen to separate the Roundhill Conservation Area from the industrial sites around it and once again become a haven for a diversity of wildlife.

There follows TWO BACKGROUND ARTICLES on:

1. the Princes Road NE Open Space and
2. the adjacent railway corridor (a designated greenway):

1. Carelet's stewardship of the land: 2004 to 2007
Carelet has owned this greenfield site since January 2004. Its actions have destroyed the wildlife habitat, smashed the steps allowing pedestrian access to the site, and have left the rubble within view of the street, inviting fly-tipping which they were slow to clear and do little to discourage.

A need now is for 'the principle of development' on this land to be withdrawn, so that a more community-minded owner can restore the tree-lines and boundary features which used to screen this attractive open space from industrial development outside the conservation area.



The problem of fly-tipping arose after Spring 2005, when Carelet used an earthdigger to clear the site, stripping it of vegetation and many trees. In introducing this vehicle to the site, Carelet demolished the steps, leaving quite a mess. They also exchanged the solid wooden barrier (at the entrance to the plot in Princes Rd) for a wire gate. This encouraged unscrupulous fly-tippers to take advantage of an attractive open space. A solid barrier is needed to prevent fly-tipping continuing and, as landowner, it is Carelet's responsibility to take reasonable action to discourage this anti-social activity.

The open space, which has never been previously developed, is important to local residents since it separates the built-area of the Round Hill Conservation Area from the Centenary Industrial Estate and (together with the green corridor of the Coastways Railway) from Hollingdean Depot, which has seen considerable intensification and will soon accommodate a Waste Transfer Station.



The urgent need to re-create the tree-lines & boundary features to the north and east of this greenfield site on the edge of our conservation area

In the spring of 2005, Carelet removed many of the boundary features to the east of the site:

The destruction of trees has removed nesting opportunities for birds, but the plot continues to function as a green lung and an important wildlife habitat. There are many species of insect, the plot is attractive to butterflies and is used by slow-worm.

However, the boundary of the conservation area and tree-lines need to be re-established here:


The developer should abandon an idea about housing people on land where they would suffer vibration and noise and look right into the lorry entrance of a tall waste transfer station.

This open space is needed for landscaping to screen residents in Princes Road from a far more busy Hollingdean Depot. We want the landscape features back.


The planning conditions on Veolia's Hollingdean Depot developments relating to landscaping, should be used to get them to screen their installations as best they can. The glare from the extensive metal roofs currently causes considerable nuisance to residents living on the north side of Princes Road.

We also want to see tree-lines and the boundary features of Round Hill restored. The section of greenway along the Coastways Railway, adjacent to Hollingdean Depot and the gardens to the north of Princes Road, is in considerable need of repair.

Network Rail will be reluctant to take on planting, since its main interest in the context of intensification at Hollingdean Depot is removing trees.

Veolia could be lent on to compensate for the effect on air quality of its 44-tonne trucks passing along Hollingdean Road. However, there is no room for much landscaping on their site. The obvious open space where screening could make a difference is the main freehold currently owned by Carelet. We urge the Council to withdraw the 'principle of development' on this sensitive piece of Round Hill's greenbelt to precipitate repair of part of our Conservation Area which has been badly damaged by the actions of three main players.

2. Coastways Railway Renewal - Spring 2007
Photo 13 May 2007: looking over the greenfield site (NE of Princes Road - currently owned by Carelet) to the designated greenway and railway corridor. There looked as if there would be room for planting trees on the northern embankment to repair the railway corridor.

The shrinking railway embankment However, with the demolition of the boundary wall, part of the railway embankment now looks as if it is part of Veolia's site.
Site preparation for Veolia's Visitors' Centre We have now been told that the MMR, The WTS and the Visitors' Centre, all on one site, would be "a tight fit" and there was no room for landscaping within Veolia's site on the southern flank. It is becoming clearer just how crammed this development is, as we watch more of it go up.

Essential track renewal in the London Road Station area.

In Spring 2007, Network Rail has commissioned Balfour Beatty to carry out essential track renewal work in the Round Hill area, as part of a national programme to improve and maintain the rail network.

The work took place between Sun 13th May 2007- Mon 14th May 2007 between the hours of(01:00hrs- 04:00hrs)

This involved removing the old track, excavating the track bed and then replacing the ballast, rail and components.

Network Rail promised, wherever possible, to carry out noisy engineering work during daylight hours.

However for safety reasons, work often had to be carried out throughout the night, as well as at weekends, to take advantage of train free periods.

Additional work was planned for:

Tue 15th May 2007- Fri 18th May 2007 between hours of (00:30hrs - 05:00hrs)

Tue 19th June 2007- Fri 22th June 2007 between hours of (00:30hrs - 05:00hrs)

Thur 20th March 2008 -Thur 20th March 2008 between hours of (00:00hrs -05:00 hrs)



Residents were advised that some of the contractors' equipment was noisy. There were also lights and generators on site. Wherever possible equipment silencers and noise barriers were used. Site personnel were briefed to ensure that they caused the least possible disturbance when working close to residential properties.

Residents were given a Network Rail Helpline on 08457 11 41 41 and told to quote reference number: 18855, should they have any enquiries regarding the work.

Network rail’s Community Relation Manager (Nicholas Gray) thanked local residents for their co-operation and apologised for any inconvenience caused during the essential work.

Photo 13 May 2007: Greenway designated by Brighton and Hove City Council and railway corridor valued in Round Hill's Conservation Area Character Statement. This is the view enjoyed from the summit of Princes Road and from many homes and back gardens at the NE end.

Notes:

1. Carelet's third (2006) proposal - The Council's reasons for refusing planning permission for residential development on the green open space currently owned by Carelet. Reason 5:

"The proposed development would result in the loss of an area of habitat that potentially could currently be supporting slowworm and other species and is within a designated Greenway. In the absence of a species survey and adequate detail of how the development would address and mitigate this impact, the proposed development is considered to be contrary to Brighton and Hove Local Plan policies QD17, QD18 and QD19."

2. In the national News (no suggestion of this happening locally)

Prisoners working on Britain's railways

Prisoners carry out rail repairs


This page was last updated by Ted on 01-Mar-2008