Welcome to the MCHA site. All the latest news on events and happenings in our neighbourhood is posted here, so check in often to stay up-to-date!
Shopping therapy
The ever-popular local historian Janet Pennington will be giving a talk on the history of the small shop immediately after our AGM on Thursday 30th May in the library of the Brighton and Hove High School, Montpelier Road, Brighton. For more details about our AGM, including the 2012-13 annual report see our events section.
Come along and discover how the story of the corner shop and local shopping parades fits in with today’s retail revolution.
Seven Dials elm saved
THE majestic elm tree that has graced Vernon Terrace for 130 years is to stay after the council’s transport committee agreed to make minor changes to the Seven Dials improvement scheme at its meeting on 30 April.
The future of the elm tree was not included in the original consultation on the Seven Dials’ improvement scheme. But in January the council’s transport committee approved a plan for the improving the junction that included felling the 130-year old elm. Most local residents, and at least some of the councillors on the transport committee, were unaware that the scheme affected the elm.
Most local residents only found out about the plan to chop the elm when the council distributed a schedule of works towards the end of February. Continue reading
Spring Meeting
We invite you to the Spring Meeting of the Association which will be held at 7:00 pm on Friday 8th March in the Wagner Vicarage Temple Gardens, by kind permission of Brighton and Hove High School. Dr Sue Berry will give an illustrated talk “Amon and Amon Henry Wilds of Lewes and Brighton: the work of two surveyor-architects in the city 1817 to 1850″
Seven Dials consultation
The council is holding a public meeting on 17th December to discuss the results of the consultation on its plans for changing the traffic flow at the Seven Dials.
The main feature of the £500,000-plan is to increase the size of the central roundabout, so that there is only one lane of traffic. Currently, the small central roundabout allows two or more vehicles to take the roundabout side by side.
The council also plans to remove the guard rails that corral pedestrians and to replace the pelican crossings, with zebra crossings. The most controversial feature of one option is to close Vernon Terrace to north bound traffic, which would inevitably divert traffic onto neighbouring routes, such as Windlesham Gardens and Clifton Road.
The meeting is being held on Monday 17th December at St Luke’s Church, Old Shoreham Rd. It starts at 7pm and is due to close at 8.30pm. “If you have an interest in the project I would strongly encourage you to attend,” says Robin Reed the council’s traffic engineer in charge of the scheme.
Christmas Party at St Nick’s
THIS year’s Christmas Party will be held in St Nicholas’s Church on Dyke Road. Corks will start popping at 7 pm on Friday 7th December. Soft drinks, food and the musical entertainment are all included in the ticket price.
Once again the ever-popular Brighton Vox Community Choir is singing some seasonal carols, while Martin Auton-Lloyd, who won much praise for his catering last year, is once again responsible for the food.
Tickets, priced £10, are available from the membership secretary Alan Legg, at 93 Montpelier Road (tel: 01273-328624) or on the door. Cheques should be made payable to MCHA.
For the first time the MCHA is holding a joint party with two other local groups, the Clifton Montpelier Powis Community Alliance and the St Nicholas Green Spaces Association. The MCHA has been co-operating with both groups over the opposition to the plans for a high-rise hotel on the ice rink site and our concerns over the Seven Dials’ traffic scheme. Continue reading
Ice Rink Site
Wykeham Terrace adjacent to the Ice Rink site
Lawyers have sent two letters to the Council on behalf of residents and local groups following the Council’s granting of planning permission for the tall six storey hotel on the site of the former ice rink on the southern boundary of the churchyard.
For those not already aware, the Planning Committee was branded by the press as a ‘shambles’ with members confused; the first vote to refuse permission being retaken once campaigners had left, officers misdirecting members during the voting and underplaying important information in the officer report and presentation.
The officer report and presentation made no mention of the churchyard being an important local park and relied on the developer’s view that the need to chop back important ancient elm trees was of little significance. All of which sets a very dangerous precedent for both future Brighton & Hove applications and national planning policy. Continue reading