Peace in Rugby Road Brighton
dedicated to efforts
to bring peace to a road that suffers much noise.
Rugby Road Parking - a problem in 2011
From Autumn 2010
vehicles displaced from the controlled parking zones in neighbouring
streets have appeared, causing distress to people living in Rugby Road.
High sided vehicles may block the light in front rooms. Corner parking
is now very common, causing obstruction to pedestrians, and
constituting a hazard for drivers emerging from side roads. Some
vehicles are from commuters, some are from residents in streets
South of the railway line who decline to buy a perking permit; some are
dumped for long periods of time. A campaign is under
way to address the problem.
What can you do? Report the vehicle to the police;
leave a polite note on the windscreen asking them to move; plant plants
around and on the offending vehicle; sign up for the campaign.
The
following
information
relates to the situation in 2005; since then,
following a petition, dustcarts have stopped using Rugby Road as a
through route:
Road Traffic noise - the Rat Run
The road has been Traffic Calmed;
this
includes
speed
kerbs,
a 20 mph speed limit, and constrictions at
both ends of the road. map
History: This was carried about
10 years ago in response to the volume and speed of through traffic at
the time, after a considerable amount of campaigning by residents of
Rugby Road. The scheme nearly implemented consisted of blockages at the
cross-roads with Southdown Avenue. At the 23rd hour this was withdrawn
in response to complaints from residents in Hollingbury Road (who at
the time had no traffic calming of their own), who appealed for
'community spirit', and feared that through traffic diverted from Rugby
Road would use their road instead. Now that a right turn from
Hollingdean Road, at the traffic lights, is allowed, this objection is
less strong.
In spite of the calming, there is still a considerable amount of
disturbance from through traffic.
Heavy
Goods
Vehicles
(HGV's
- principly refuse carts), builders vans with loose loads that rattle
as they go over the bumps, commuters in cars providing a free sample of
their In Car Entertainment
(sub-woofers for those males with poor self-
image, and in summer we also hear the music through open car windows).
The constrictions were
intended to discourage or prevent the entry of
HGV's; this has not succeeded in stopping the refuse vehicles. A width limitation,
as used in Ringmer, would be more effective than the current pinch
point, which the HGV's deal with quite easily. Of course special
provision would be needed for emergency vehicles. The
refuse vehicles are (supposedly) under public control, and to allow
them to pass through a traffic-calmed area cannot be acceptable.
There are two schools near the top of Rugby Road (Downs Junior and
Downs Infants), and the Play Scheme near the bottom of Florence Road.
Thus a large number of young children are often in the area, crossing
the paths of these vehicles. Pollution from small particulates produced
by diesel engines are bad for everyone, especially children. Violent
bumps to the ground from heavy vehicles subject the Victorian
foundations of our houses to more stress than was ever envisaged when
they were built. By
using uncalmed roads the vehicles would generate less disturbance,
since they
would not be passing over the calming speed bumps. Many residents who
sleep in the front of their houses are woken
by
the
sound
of
lorries going over the speed bumps, from about 5:30 am. A demonstration
was held at the top of Rugby Road on July 19th 2005.
CityClean claim that no other
route is possible for their (large) vehicles; Magpie
recycling (with
their small silent electric floats) wouldn't have this problem! If they
insist on using such large vehicles, they will have to use an
alternative route that can accomodate them. This might be longer, using
existing through routes, but cannot use a traffic calmed area. The
arguement that large vehicles produce less overall pollution is flawed,
since they produce a quality of pollution completely absent with some
smaller vehicles. Appropriate vehicles for a residental part of a city
are needed; Cityclean's apparent operating imperatives cannot over-ride
the obligations of the Council to preserve and enhancethe overall
environment.
A recent plan to upgrade the
Hollingdean depot (the old abbatoir site - planning
application no. BH2005/0304/FP Construction of Materials Recovery
Facility and Wasste transfer station, Hollingdean Lane, Brighton.
Applicant: Onyx South Downs Ltd) threatens to increase the
amount of traffic dramatically.
Supporters of the depot say that if you are in favour of recycling you
have to support this depot! There must be more suitable places to put
it (not in the middle of so many houses), and it is possible to use
smaller, quieter vehicles to collect (as Magpie do). There is now a
large campaign against this plan www.refuse-refuse.org.uk.
This has a chilling 8-minute video
of the recycling trucks ('Because We Love Our City') emerging at 7:10am
on a misty April morning from the depot (turn up the sound for maximum
terror!). Many of these are seen to turn left, ready to wake up
the innocents of Rugby Road once again.
Wheelie-bins are also causing
much concern, and disfiguring the conservation area. see www.brightonbeautiful.com
and
email
nowheeliebins@hotmail.co.uk
download ban7.5T for A4 printing
cutout
Hollingbury Road is nearby and is an example of a road that is traffic
calmed and has a HGV ban. It is hard to see why this is not possible in
Rugby Road. (It has been rumoured this was something to do with the the
chair of the transport committee that approved it being the councillor
for the Hollingbury Road, but I'm sure this couldn't be true!).
A recent discussion with a council officer (December 2004) produced the
opinion that an HGV ban
would not be possible because the police would oppose it on the grounds
of it being unenforceable! Well: 1) the police are politically
acountable and 2) even an unenforced ban would be better than none.
A written request (in January 2005) to the chief of the Hollingbury
Depot to stop the current through traffic produced a (polite) refusal.
A petition
for
a
HGV
ban has been presented to the Council
meeting April 28th by Councillors Richard Mallender and
Juliet Mccaffery. A deputation went from Rugby Road. It was considered
at the Environment
Committee on May 26th.. petition
wording . meeting of
March 16th 2005. meeting of
April 6th
Light
Aircraft
noise
This is annoying mostly in the summer, when at times constant stream of
light aircraft can make sitting in the garden an unrelaxing experience.
(This seems to annoy those without children most!). They come
particularly on sunny weekends and bank holidays. They originate from Shoreham
Airport (jointly owned by Brighton and Hove and Worthing Councils).
Pleasure rides are advertised ("you
can
take
a
pleasure
flight in one of the many smaller aircraft for a
bird's eye view of the local area")
and undoubtable contribute to this 'joyriding' activity that appears to
have no social value and whereby a single individual can cause
annoyance to more people than ever would be allowed by a car driver.
It's unclear whether tax is paid on the fuel used, or whether an
environmental audit of the activity has ever been carried out. With the
planned expansion of the airport this can only get worse (unless
restraints on the noise pollution are brought in). Since the Airport is
under public control it ought to be able to control the activity;
however the main aim of those running it seems to be to avoid losing
money.
contacts:
local councillors:
Kevin Allen (tel 291197 Email:
kevin.allen@brighton-hove.gov.uk)
Amy Kennedy (tel 296445 Email:
amy.kennedy@brighton-hove.gov.uk)
Juliet McCaffery (tel 291173 Email:
juliet.mccaffery@brighton-hove.gov.uk)
MP for Brighton Pavilion
Caroline Lucas
Noise Abatement Society
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last updated March 31st 2011
by Paul Tofts