Cllr. Vanessa Brown and Cllr. Samer Bagaeen

BH2022/00203 – Land At King George VI Avenue (Toads Hole Valley)

1^st February 2022:

We are writing yet again to make our serious objections to the above application. The most recent traffic information does nothing to mitigate the tremendous traffic problems that will occur in Hove Park Ward and particularly the Goldstone Valley area.

The most recent proposals included plans for 1062 homes. Originally the development was for approximately 700 homes. This increase will put even more pressure on the local road network. It is estimated that the traffic in Goldstone Crescent will increase by approximately 50%. This narrow residential road is already suffering gridlock at peak times due to other major building projects in Hove and traffic generated by the development around Hove Station and the Sackville Trading Estate is yet to be seen. Having traffic lights at the King George V1 end of Goldstone Crescent, although necessary, will make even more cars use that road. Nevill Road should take more of the traffic as it is wider and a more straightforward route into the centre of Hove yet this does not figure in the plans. The queues to get out of Goldstone Crescent are forecast to be 29 cars long at rush hours. This will cause chaos on the road and frustration for drivers. Reducing the speed limit and putting in speed humps will not alleviate the problems caused by the massive increase in the number of cars.

The junction of Woodland Drive/Goldstone Crescent is forecast to have a 48% increase in traffic and the Woodruff Avenue/ Goldstone Crescent junction an increase of 51%. These junctions are not manageable in a safe way. The Woodland Drive/ Goldstone Crescent junction already has multiple accidents.

The developers are not giving the people who will live at Toads Hole a genuine choice of transport that will reduce traffic and harmful emissions. It is now not even promising a new reliable bus service. There is currently only one bus an hour coming to the Goldstone Valley and no buses at all in the evenings. How will this encourage residents to give up their cars? These plans fail to help the City meet its target of being carbon neutral by 2030! I was also horrified to read that buses and cyclists will “have priority” through the bus gate in King George V1 Drive. This entrance was always to be for the use of buses and bicycles ONLY. I would like confirmation that cars will not be able to use that crossover in the middle of a quiet residential road.

This application will encourage car use, rat running, increased pollution levels and ruin the previously quiet residential neighbourhoods of the Goldstone Valley, Woodland Drive and nearby roads.

King George V1 Avenue will become extremely dangerous because of losing its crawler lane and having so many entrances and exits to the site. In bad weather it has always been an extremely icy slippery road. The roundabouts at the top of the hill are already heavily congested with long tail backs on the feeder roads at busy times.

These traffic levels are a premier concern but there are many others. There is a water aquifer on this land that could easily become polluted and there is also a risk of localised flooding. The protected hazel dormice on the site have not been adequately protected and relocated. The developers have been requesting parcels of land from Hove Park and the Three Cornered Copse to aid their plans which are being resisted by local residents.

If Toads Hole should receive outline planning permission the developers plan to sell off the land in three tranches. This will mean there is no co-ordinated overarching strategic plan for the site which is extremely worrying.

This is a huge overdevelopment that will cause chaos and ruin the local residential neighbourhood. It should be refused permission.