Welcome To "Green" Brighton

 

When the lockdown was implemented, in order to provide extra space for people to exercise, Brighton council closed Madeira Drive on the seafront to traffic. This was a perfectly sensible and correct decision.

However, now that lockdown has been eased and the Green party has taken control of the council (thanks to labour's issues with anti-Semitism), there has been a considerable degree of mission creep.

The council has decreed that Madeira Drive is to remain shut, and that cycle lanes will be expanded and added all the way along the seafront. The theory being that this will reduce pollution and will provide a jolly place for people to walk and cycle.

Guess what?

That theory has proven to be utter bollocks!

Unsurprisingly the closure of the road and expansion of cycle lanes has caused gridlock elsewhere, which of course means an increase in pollution.

Oh the irony, the cycle lanes and closure of Madeira Drive were meant to reduce traffic and pollution! Traffic jams cause more pollution. Well done @BrightonHoveCC https://t.co/xNKG8pK2On

— Ken Frost (@ken_frost) August 18, 2020

As to the economic consequences of the closure of Madeira Drive, well here's a little list of the damage it will do:

1 Closing off Madeira Drive to traffic reduces the number of tourists and visitors to the beachfront, and will therefore negatively impact business revenues of the businesses there (and in other parts of the city).

 

2 Reduced business revenues means reduced taxes, council revenues (eg over £1M per annum in parking fees) etc.

 

3 Madeira Drive is a destination, not a thoroughfare. Brighton is a tourist city, if you eliminate a major destination you will reduce the number of tourists coming here.

 

4 There is very little footfall along Madeira Drive, in spite of the closure, come winter it will be next to nothing.

 

5 The cost of stewards is a waste of resources.

 

6 There will be a rent strike, and the council's revenues will take a hit.

 

7 Closure is in breach of the lease agreements with seafront businesses, they will expect compensation and sue the council for breach of contract.

 

8 Madeira Drive, even though it has been sunny, has not attracted throngs of extra people cycling or walking. Come winter it will be completely deserted.

The council is economically illiterate and refuses to grasp the fact that Brighton is a tourist destination, if you make tourists feel unwelcome they will go elsewhere.

www.nannyknowsbest.com is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Visit Oh So Swedish Swedish arts and handicrafts