Brighton & Hove Friends of the Earth

That’s what developers are saying to people who will live in the new housing at Toads Hole Valley. If you are concerned about climate change and want to reduce your transport carbon emissions then you could find it quite challenging.

Currently, surface transport is responsible for 23% of all the UK’s carbon emissions and is the only sector, along with aviation, whose emissions have risen since 1990. The Committee on Climate Change has said that there should be a 10% shift from cars to more sustainable transport, while others have said there needs to be greater traffic reduction.

Yet for the Toads Hole Valley developers, it’s business as usual. You wouldn’t have thought there was a climate emergency. While they have incorporated some cycle facilities and the site will be served by a bus, their lack of confidence in these measures is demonstrated by the low travel plan target: only 40% of people will walk, cycle, or catch the bus and train in their new development. Little different to what people currently do in the area. Yet with a new development, with the right infrastructure and services, you have a once in a lifetime opportunity to re-frame people’s travel behaviour. They should be aiming for 50 – 60% of people travelling by sustainable means. It’s possible but why the lack of ambition?

As an example of what the developers are proposing, they have come up with a 5 stage crossing over the A27, round a chicane, through a gate, and if you want to cycle on the road out to Devil’s Dyke, you have even more obstacles to negotiate. It would be worthy of a challenge for Indiana Jones himself. Unfortunately, they have designed much of the walking and cycling infrastructure like this while for cars they have made it really easy to drive absolutely everywhere. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to work out that the car will rule in the new development and carbon emissions will not be reduced by anything like the amount they need to be. We are calling for all concerned to work with us and other stakeholders to come up with something much better, something that can truly be called an exemplar development.

BHFOE 2nd objection to Toads Hole Valley application
Toads Hole Valley – suggested road and access changes