Construction Industry News Archive
Welcome to the news archive page. This is where you will find articles from April 2007. If you would like to view our current news, please click here.
- Critics of housing development unite to buy land
- £55m rebuild for 'ugliest building'
- Development will have to meet new rules
- New West Pier could be up in four years
- Brighton tower gets all clear
- Open market plans wanted
- Towers decision 'one of momentous ever taken'
Critics of housing development unite to buy land
Campaigners fighting a multi-million pound housing development have announced a plan to buy the land themselves.
Homes, offices and shops could all be built in the middle of Lewes under proposals put forward by developer Angel Properties.
But opponents of the plan, including residents group Phoenix Action, believe the district council is rushing through the scheme and said it should wait until at least 2008 to prevent the £200 million being spent on the work being wasted.
Phoenix Action is planning to meet with residents' groups on April 19 to discuss a non-profit community bid for the land.
John Stockdale, chairman of Phoenix Action, said:
"A number of groups are looking to see if we can get some sort of collective together to organise a community buy-out which would mean the site would not have to be developed as is planned at the moment.
It is a very difficult site. It has got lots of contamination and it flooded badly. There would also be serious transport problems because it is effectively a cul-de-sac and sticking housing down there would cause problems with traffic in a town with a medieval road system."
The plans outlined by the council and developers include 800 homes, a three-screen cinema with 400-space car park, a footbridge, art gallery and restaurants in the Phoenix quarter of Lewes and the area around North Street.
But there are fears the project could irreversibly damage the area's appearance and put Lewes further at risk from flooding.
The North Street and Phoenix quarter area of Lewes was developed in the Fifties and Sixties for factories and warehouses on the site of the former Phoenix Iron Works and adjacent riverside land.
The area was badly affected by flooding in October 2000. This, together with the age and deteriorating condition of some buildings on the site, has led the district council to say it
"requires a fresh look at its future role".
Mr Stockdale said:
"We are quite hopeful of getting some sort of scheme together. I do not think anyone wants to leave the land the way it is at the moment but we do not want to rush into anything while the whole planning system is up in the air.
We do not want to see it over-developed because it is not in keeping with the town."
From The Argus, 8th April 2007
£55m rebuild for 'ugliest building'
A college branded the ugliest building in England is set to be demolished and rebuilt under £55 million plans revealed today.
Central Sussex College's campus in Crawley is considered an eyesore and would be replaced with fourstorey blocks designed by master architects under new proposals.
Plans include a new public area featuring a hair and beauty salon and a restaurant.
Students would learn higher-level skills at a university centre aimed at supporting businesses and industry in the Gatwick Diamond economic sub-region.
Some of the land owned by the college is likely to be sold for redevelopment as additional town centre housing.
The details have been revealed in a planning application due to be made to Crawley Borough Council this month and will come as welcome relief to critics of the existing building.
Councillor John Mortimer derided the college in December during a planning meeting discussing the town's new library.
He described the college as "the ugliest building in the whole of England".
College principal Russell Strutt explained the redevelopment was part of a county and nationwide investment in education facilities.
He said it would provide youngsters with brighter opportunities and give them skills that employers need.
Mr Strutt added:
"This is an exciting time in the history of the college and we are really looking forward to developing a campus fit for the 21st Century. It will support the economic and skills development needs within the Gatwick Diamond area and address social and educational needs of both Crawley and the surrounding areas."
Building work at the College Road campus will start later this year if planning permission is granted and be carried out in stages.
It has been designed by master planners Lee Evans, in Canterbury, to blend in with the recently finished £9 million Longley building.
Consultations have been carried out with staff, students, neighbours and businesses.
The college will apply for part-funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and raise the rest of the money itself.
The LSC has committed to improving further-education centres and helped finance another of the college's redevelopments.
Central Sussex College is carrying out a £24 million rebuild of its Haywards Heath campus.
To view the plans, visit www.centralsussex.ac.uk/ redevelopment/crawley.
From The Argus, 5th April 2007
Development will have to meet new rules
Future development in a county will have to meet 15 new rules intended to set the highest building standards.
West Sussex County Council has laid out a new code of design principles covering issues ranging from density and materials to sustainability, use of lighting, signage and how public art and water features can enliven new development.
Lord Young of Graffham, who chaired the design commission which came up with the principles, said:
"The West Sussex Design Principles are unique in that they encourage clear and broad-based thinking before the submission of a planning application. We are not telling developers or architects what to do or how to design."
The rules will be applied to all structures, not just buildings.
The council hopes they will change attitudes to development and ensure that builders, developers, architects, planners and other professionals know the type of standards the public expect to see.
The design principles can be viewed at www.westsussexdesign.org.uk.
From The Argus, 4th April 2007
New West Pier could be up in four years
A new pier could rise out of the ashes of the derelict West Pier within four years.
The West Pier Trust have revealed they are in negotiations with a company who want to build a new attraction where the remains of Brighton's famous structure stand.
The plans will feature a modern design and include a rebuild of the famous concert hall which was the centre piece of the original construction.
But the trust was last night keeping its cards close to its chest over the exact details of its proposals or who the mystery developer is.
Geoff Lockwood, chief executive of the West Pier Trust, said:
"We have been fighting for this for 12 years. We are excited but cautious. We have been let down before."
The trust has agreed not to name the company it is in discussions with until work on the i360 tower begins on the seafront this summer.
The tower, which was given final approval by the Government last week, will stand at the base of the West Pier site. It is expected to be finished in 2009.
Dr Lockwood said the trust had ruled out plans for a casino, or any type of gaming, on the new pier. Developers want to build an exclusive hotel and restaurants on the pier, which could be completed by 2011.
He said:
"The deal will be totally private sector and will be confined to the West Pier Trust land.
Other schemes we have looked at have used adjoining council land. It will be a mixture of heritage and new.
We will keep elements of the original pier including the concert hall which will be rebuilt in a modern setting. In terms of timing once they start work in June a deal will be in place for a sea-based pier by the end of the year.
The company we are talking to is British and has experience of sea-based leisure developments in the south of England."
Rachel Clark, general manager of the trust, said:
"It would be an interesting attraction which in design terms would reflect the West Pier's former glory. Elements of the West Pier which have been retained and stored would be incorporated in the new design."
Simon Burgess, the leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, said:
"It sounds very exciting and interesting. I have little doubt the i360 makes a huge difference. There will be a lot of serious investors out there wanting to get involved."
From The Argus, 3rd April 2007
Brighton tower gets all clear
Work will begin on Brighton and Hove's flagship i360 tower in June after the Government gave the development final approval.
Groundwork for the 183-metre structure was set for months of delays after business rivals objected to the scheme.
But today the West Pier Trust, the team behind the i360, got the news they had been waiting 12 months to hear when the Department for Transport (DfT) gave its approval for the project.
A Victorian law covering the proposed site had stopped the land, at the base of the West Pier, being leased out for more than three years at a time.
The trust asked the DfT to alter the legislation to allow the i360 to be built on the seafront.
The Noble Organisation, which owns Brighton's Palace Pier, objected to the plans on the grounds the tower would increase competition along the seafront and have a negative affect on their profits.
But the DfT today backed the trust and gave permission for the i360 to be started.
Rachel Clark, general manager of the West Pier Trust, said: "It can only be that Noble were fearful of competition.
"A conservative estimate is that 500,000 visitors will come to the i360 every year. A significant proportion will go on the Palace Pier.
It will benefit the whole of Brighton. There will be no loss.
We were always confident the outcome would go our way. It's very good news."
Work to dismantle the shore-side part of the now-derelict West Pier will begin in June.
The i360 was designed by David Marks and Julia Barfield, the architects responsible for the London Eye.
It is estimated the tower will give a £10 million boost to the city's economy and create more than 100 jobs.
It will be double the height of Sussex Heights, which is currently the highest building in the city.
Visitors will be taken to the top of the tower in a giant pod. Views at the top will stretch for up to 25 miles.
Brighton and Hove City Council leader Simon Burgess said:
"This has been the one thing holding this development up and making us nervous.It will be so nice to see one of these dramatic developments to really get going."
Coun Burgess said there had been concerns the architects would lose patience with the wait for approval and take the proposal elsewhere.
He said:
"They could have taken it anywhere. The risk was them contemplating building somewhere else. This is fantastic news."
From The Argus, 30th March 2007
Open market plans wanted
Traders have been given a six-month extension to present plans for the £10 million redevelopment of their run-down market.
Brighton and Hove City Council wants the stallholders to have a say on the future of the Open Market.
But so far they have been unable to come up with a viable plan and the council has warned it will offer the project to private developers if a solution cannot be reached.
The Open Market Traders' Association has unveiled plans to revamp the land between London Road and Ditchling Road into a Continental-style covered area with 70 stalls, flats and a central square.
Forty homes would be developed and managed by Hyde Housing and it is hoped this will help fund the rest of the project.
But council officers who have assessed the proposal said although the traders had made good progress, the business case suffered from a lack of detail.
The £10 million redevelopment will inject new life into an area that has suffered a series of setbacks.
From The Argus, 30th March 2007
Towers decision 'one of momentous ever taken'
The city is coming to terms with one of the most momentous decisions ever taken in Brighton and Hove.
The first phase of the £290 million King Alfred redevelopment could now be open in two years time - after more than four decades wait.
Frank Gehry's controversial plans were approved last night by the narrowest of margins as The Argus revealed yesterday.
Brighton and Hove will now be graced with a landmark building by one of the world's most renowned architects.
The plans for the crumbling Hove seafront leisure centre were not without their detractors, but last night a partner at the architect's firm in Los Angeles said it was one of best projects the illustrious team had accomplished to date.
Craig Webb said:
"We have all worked very hard to create this and we think it will become an iconic piece of architecture. It is one of the highest quality projects we have accomplished so far."
The current sports centre is likely to close at the end of the year with the new state-of-the art facility opening in 2009 and the 751 flats in 2012.
All five Conservative councillors voted against the proposal at the planning meeting at Hove town hall, along with the Green member of the panel, Sue Paskins.
The five Labour members backed the scheme and Liberal Democrat councillor David Watkins' support for the proposal tied the votes, six all.
The decision was passed on the casting vote of the planning committee's chairman, Labour councillor Leslie Hamilton.
The scheme is Mr Gehry's first in England and Josh Arghiros, director of developer Karis, said it would establish the city as a cultural hub.
He said:
"I am ecstatic - it is a big day for Brighton and Hove. It has been four years of hard work from lots of people and it will turn Brighton and Hove into the cultural city of Britain."
Council leader Simon Burgess said the decision would have wide reaching ramifications.
He said:
"This is such good news for the future of the city. We would have been quite the laughing stock had we turned this amazing opportunity down.
This now gives us good leverage with all the other sites we want to develop in the future."
Lib Dem Coun Watkins revealed that although he was not won over by the design of the building he believed it was right for the city.
He said:
"I think the Marina building is absolutely magnificent and we will have the i360, which will be something to put us on the map for tourism, and the King Alfred gives us the full house on the seafront."
But Conservative and Green councillors attacked the decision, claiming it was a missed opportunity and overdevelopment.
Tory councillor Linda Hyde, who voted against the proposal, said:
"It looks more like a nuclear power station - it even makes Dungeness look quite tasteful."
Councillor Brian Oxley, leader of the Conservative party, said:
"It is a slap in the face of the residents. The development is completely out-of-keeping with the area and we will be pushing the Government Office for the South East to call in the decision."
Coun Paskins said:
"There will be massive overshadowing for those on Kingsway and in the lower blocks in the King Alfred. It is supposed to be affordable housing but it is despicable."
Valerie Paynter, of anti-King Alfred group Save Hove, said that she will be considering a judicial review.
She said:
"It is very sad that this was not determined on merit. First we will wait for the Government Office for the South East and if they rubber stamp it a judicial review is our only option."
From The Argus, 23rd March 2007
