New England Quarter

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Diagram showing the layout of streets and significant buildings in the New England Quarter area before and after its redevelopment

Looking down the new Stroudley Road towards the "core site": Blocks A-D. This spot was previously a little-used far corner of the old car park.

The New England Quarter is a newly-developed area of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove, built on a large brownfield site adjacent to Brighton railway station. Parts of the site have already been finished; other sections are still being built; and certain aspects of the original plan are still awaiting final approval. The area is a mixed-use development, with many different types of land use, from high-density buildings to sections of green space.

[edit] Location

New England Street previously ran straight through here; now, only the access road to the London Road car park (to the left) has been retained, and the route beyond will be pedestrianised and provided with cycle lanes.

The New England Quarter is in a central location in Brighton, immediately to the east of the railway station and approximately ¾ mile north of the seafront. The development is contained within a broadly rectangular area of 21.6 acres (8.75 hectares),^[1] bounded by:

• To the north: New England Road, leading towards the Seven Dials area
• To the east: The A23 London Road
• To the south: Trafalgar Street, a steep street leading downhill from the station towards the Church of St Peter, and forming the northern boundary of the North Laine area
• To the west: the railway station and its associated trackwork and sidings

(Some sources measure the site differently, and accordingly define it as smaller or larger than the 21.6-acre size given in the masterplan.)

The name of the development refers to both New England Road - a major link road in this part of the city, forming part of the A270 - and New England Street, a road in the centre of the development which has been rerouted and partly pedestrianised as part of the scheme's traffic flow alterations.

[edit] History

Looking over Montpelier Sidings and the Brighton Main Line towards the site of the former locomotive works. The new multi-storey car park is complete; Blocks L and M of the development are under sheeting on the left; and Blocks E and F are under construction beneath the blue crane.

Much of the site was originally the location of Brighton's steam locomotive works and the lower part of the station goods yard. The first locomotive was produced here in 1852. By 1896, the works employed more than 2,200 people in the manufacture and maintenance of locomotives for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. Production lasted until 1957, after which the buildings survived for some time before being cleared in 1969^[2] to make way for the largest car park on what was then British Rail's Southern Region.^{[3] [4]} The works and its associated buildings were situated on an artificial "plateau" dug into the side of the chalk slopes, with the railway line on top, the works at a lower level and the lower goods yard beneath. (The works had been extended on a "pier" across the lower goods yard at one point.)^[5] The station car park was at approximately the same height as the railway line, while the lower section towards Trafalgar Street saw a mixture of uncoordinated uses, such as small office blocks and used car dealerships.

Looking towards Blocks L and M from New England Street at the point where it is rerouted, showing the terracing effect up the side of the slope.

Other parts of the site sloped steeply down the side of the valley towards the A23 (which runs through the valley floor). To overcome this problem, a series of terraces of level ground were built by civil engineering contractor Galliford Try's "Rock & Alluvium" ground engineering division.^[6]

During the 1990s, various proposals had been put forward for more effective use of the land. (Greater urgency was lent to this in 2000, when city status was awarded to Brighton and Hove.) In particular, the Environmental Services Department of what was then Brighton Borough Council produced a planning brief for the site in October 1993, stating a desire to "recreate in the area west of London Road a vital, urban, mixed use townscape which links a regenerated and environmentally enhanced London Road shopping centre with North Laine and the station".^[7] Certainly, the combination of single-level car park (very rarely used to its full capacity), old railway and industrial buildings and overgrown wasteland which the area consisted of by this time failed to use the site to its full potential, especially given its advantages: size, central location and ease of access to main road and rail links.

[edit] Development of the scheme

URBED (the Urban and Economic Development Group), a non-profit-making urban regeneration consultancy,^[8] designed and developed the "masterplan" for the scheme on behalf of the New England Consortium. The latter is a group of companies and interested parties which together have the overall responsibility for the scheme,^[9] including:

• Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd
• J. Sainsbury Developments Ltd
• Quoin Estates & Development Ltd (QED)

The land was originally owned by British Rail, but passed to Railtrack when the railway system was privatised in the mid-1990s. It was sold to the New England Consortium in 1997.^[10] An initial planning application, with a new Sainsbury's supermarket being a prominent feature, was rejected by the council in November 1997;^[11] the rejection was subsequently upheld on appeal in September 1998. Following this, URBED were asked to develop a new masterplan for the site; this "design statement" was published in July 2001, and was granted planning permission by Brighton & Hove City Council^[12] in November 2002.

Construction work on the site began on 20 July 2004.^{[13] [14]}

[edit] The "design statement"

The design statement is viewable in .pdf format here:

[edit] Overview of the scheme

The scheme is a mixed-use development, consisting of a wide range of buildings and public spaces. Broadly, these can be classified as residential, commercial, educational, community, transport-related and "green space". The land has been divided into a series of "blocks", identified by letters, to which different types of development have been allocated. (Letters H, I and N are not used.)

[edit] Residential areas

Some of the apartments on the core site

At least 355 new homes (consisting of a mixture of standard houses, apartments and townhouses), able to support a population of approximately 1,000 people, will be available. Of this housing stock, 30% has been classified by the developers as "affordable housing", which will be managed by an independent housing association.

In 2005, a joint venture was formed between housebuilder Crest Nicholson and environmental project and design group BioRegional Development Group^[18] to acquire part of the site (Blocks E and F) and provide 172 of the new homes, including the affordable housing stock as mentioned above. The homes will be a mixture of one-, two- and three-bedroom flats and "eco-studios", contained within one six-storey and one ten-storey tower. This section of the development will also incorporate 925m² of "community space", to include a community centre, and 1,134m² of floorspace for commercial use.^{[19] [20]}

Major British housebuilder Barratt Developments was responsible for building the other section of the private housing development, known as City Point.^[21] This covers Blocks A, B, C and D, to the south of the Crest Nicholson/Bioregional development. The first phase of City Point was made available for reservation in mid-2005;^[22] the second phase has recently been made available as well.^[23] Two-bedroom flats are priced at around £300,000, while some of the largest properties (four-bedroom houses) exceed £500,000. A marketing suite has been put in place at the south of the main development.

[edit] Block A

This covers an area of 4,484m² and is bounded by the now partly pedestrianised New England Street (the former course of which it partially encroaches upon), Cheapside, a new pedestrian right of way and Blocks B and C. The Harvest Forestry,^[24] a low-rise building with small dome-shaped turrets at each corner (photograph on this page), previously stood here.

This has been designated a high-density, urban housing area, consisting of:

• Eight three-storey townhouses (four bedrooms) fronting New England Street
• Nine townhouses (four bedrooms) fronting the new pedestrian route, with roof gardens and small rear gardens
• Two apartment blocks with a total of twenty-one two-bedroom flats

The apartment block fronting the new Ann Square (facing north) will have two retail units at street level (total area 245 m²). Seventeen parking spaces have been allocated to the housing.^[25]

[edit] Block B

With an area of 3,953m², this block lies to the west of Block A and adjoins Fleet Street, part of the new main road through the New England Quarter. It will contain a very high density of housing: 119 residential units per hectare (current government planning policy stipulates a minimum of 30 residential units per hectare, but no maximum density is advised).^[26] Forty-seven residential units, none with allocated parking, and a retail unit make up the block:

• Nine townhouses (four bedrooms)
• Seventeen two-bedroom flats
• Thirteen three-bedroom flats
• Eight two-bedroom duplexes

A single unit of 124m² is to be used as a shop or café. The apartment blocks within Block B are four and five storeys in height. The central area enclosed by the block will be developed as a courtyard.^[27]

[edit] Block C

The residential element of this large (6,432m²), complex block consists of 94 units, comprising:

• Four one-bedroom flats
• Fifty-four two-bedroom flats
• Thirty-six three-bedroom flats

These are all situated above the Sainsbury's supermarket, which forms a major component of the block. The flats are arranged across two apartment blocks, connected by a pedestrian route and sharing two courtyards. No parking is allocated to any of the flats. The blocks are each four storeys in height, on top of the height of the supermarket.^[28]

[edit] Block D

This is another mixed-use block, with a training centre at street level. The residential element within the 3,953m² area consists of 56 units:

• Eight one-bedroom flats
• Two one-bedroom duplexes
• Thirty-four two-bedroom flats
• Twelve three-bedroom flats

Most of the building is five storeys high (the lowest floor being the training centre, with four residential floors above), but a further three storeys are incorporated within a "tower" in one corner. Again, no parking is allocated to this block.^[29]

[edit] Blocks E and F

A view down Stroudley Road, with the future Block G development in the foreground, and the already-developed buildings of Blocks E and F in the centre

These are intended to be the site of affordable "key worker" housing. While the ground floor area will function as a community centre, the space above is to be used as high-density accommodation, possibly with shared lounge areas and kitchens. Five floors of this housing would be built above the community centre, giving the block a similar height to that of the adjacent Block D building. No parking spaces will be allocated to the residential section of the block.^[30]

[edit] Block G

This will consist of three terraces of housing on top of a retaining wall alongside Stroudley Road. The ground area is 2,092m², of which 883m² will be allocated to B1-category office and utility space. The residential elements of the development are to be three storeys high, with balconies overlooking the "green corridor" immediately to the east. No off-street car parking has been planned for this block, but some on-street parking may be provided.^[31]

[edit] Commercial areas

[edit] Sainsbury's supermarket

The Sainsbury's on its first day of trading - 1 March 2007 - showing Ann Square in front and residential development above.

A 4,180m² Sainsbury's supermarket (total "sales area" accessible to the public: 2,323m²) forms a major component both of Block C and of the New England Quarter itself.^{[32] [33]} It extends across the east-west space of the block; as a result of the steeply sloping land at this point, the store frontage faces the newly built Ann Square and the newly pedestrianised New England Street, while the rear is at basement (sub-ground floor) level. A car park with 194 spaces for shoppers has been created beneath the store, and is linked to it by travolators. (Coincidentally, the large Sainsbury's store on Lewes Road, in the north-east of the city, was also provided with travolators from its opening in 1985.) The service area and loading bay extend beneath the new road between Blocks C and D, and into the ground beneath Block D.

The new store opened at 9.00am on 1 March 2007. Billboards around the site, which had publicised the opening for several months, were replaced overnight (28 February/1 March) with posters stating "Try your new Sainsbury's today". The store will ultimately replace a smaller, rather dated outlet in nearby London Road, which has seen little refurbishment since the original planning application for a Sainsbury's on the New England Quarter site was put through in 1997.

[edit] Other

As mentioned above, both Block A and Block B have been provided with a small amount of space for retail use.

In November 2005, Block K was granted planning permission^[34] for a four-storey office development (B1-category), in addition to the hotel and public open space therein. The amount of office space had been reduced, in favour of more hotel space, since the date when outline planning permission was granted for the New England Quarter development as a whole (September 2003). 2,793m² of office space will be provided (the original masterplan indicated 3,159m².^[35])

[edit] Hotels

The Block J site in February 2007, looking east

Block J, which has a ground area of 3,707m², has been granted planning permission for a luxury (four-star) hotel, with around 250 beds and a range of facilities including a restaurant, swimming pool and conference venue, taking the total floor space to 21,367m² spread across five or six storeys. The URBED masterplan states that "no associated parking [has been provided] as it is anticipated that most guests will arrive by train"^[36] given that the station is immediately adjacent.

Controversy has arisen over a proposal (raised after the masterplan was approved in principle) to build a 42-storey tower incorporating a large number of residential units and other facilities in addition to the already-approved hotel. Planning permission was denied in April 2005,^[37] and a final decision on the Block J site is expected in February 2007.^[38] See the "Criticism and controversy" section.

Block K has been acquired by the Jurys Doyle Hotel Group PLC (website), which operates hotels under the "Jury's Inn" brand. It will house a three-star hotel, built over five and six storeys, in addition to the offices and public space mentioned above. Its total floor area will be 10,518m², and 234 bedrooms will be provided, along with various meeting rooms and similar facilities.^[39] The hotel will be built by Northern Irish construction group McAleer & Rushe, along with two other Jury's Inn hotels elsewhere in England.^[40] Completion is expected in the autumn of 2007.^[41]

[edit] Education and community

The Black Minority Ethnic Community Partnership,^[42] a grant-aided registered charity, will occupy 1,858m² of ground-floor space in Block D. This will be set up as a community training and resource centre.^[43]

Block F^[44] will be mostly allocated to community use. This area originally had a collection of old buildings which had originally been part of the locomotive works. Subsequently, they had been put to various uses, such as a camping goods shop (Photo) and a furniture outlet (Photo). A third building, behind these shops, was believed to have been used as a "clocking-on" point for employees at the works, who would go there to register their presence each day before starting work. (Photo) By 2002, it consisted mostly of a series of staircases, bridges and ramps, and was in poor condition.

Bellerby's College buildings under construction. Block M is to the left.

Blocks L and M^[45] (total ground space 5,509m²) will consist of substantial new buildings for Bellerby's College, a preparatory college for foreign students intending to go to British universities.^[46] The buildings will contain:

• Four floors of teaching space, including sixty-two classrooms, a library and a bookshop (total area 4,336m²)
• Five floors of accommodation (7,046m²) for approximately 375 students
• A canteen and catering area (701m²)
• Offices and college administration space (1,965m²)^[47]

Sixty car parking spaces will be available for staff, beneath Block L. The two blocks will be connected by an enclosed glass walkway.^[48] An early version of the masterplan showed three separate buildings on the site, with the third being "Block N"; the college asked for this to be incorporated within the Block M building instead.^[49]

[edit] Car parking

Looking south, with the decked car park on the right

Blocks O-R of the development make up Brighton station car park. This has two decks, a ground area of 8,884m² and 600 spaces, of which 26 are for disabled drivers. A pick-up and drop-off point with motorcycle parking and a turning circle is situated between the car park and the side entrance to the station. This was the first part of the New England Quarter to be completed; most of the work was undertaken by the Adenstar Construction Group, based in nearby Portslade^[50] There was a contractural obligation to provide 600 spaces, although the form which this had to take was not specified and various proposals were considered, including a taller multi-storey structure with more floors and a much smaller ground area. During the construction works, a temporary car park was provided on land nearby.

There is relatively little parking elsewhere on the site, other than the 190-space facility at the Sainsbury's supermarket; this is partly mitigated by the retention of the London Road multi-storey car park, located between Block C and the A23 London Road itself. The residential areas in particular have very few dedicated parking spaces. Block K will have 27 spaces to be shared between the hotel and the office building; nine of these will be for disabled drivers. A total of 34, including five on-street spaces, had been indicated on the masterplan,^[51]) all of which were allocated to the office building.

[edit] Changes to the road layout

The section of New England Street that will be retained as part of the north-south through route. Fleet Street, the new section of road, swings off to the west immediately behind the camera.

Significant alterations have been made to the underlying road network in the area. Some roads have been downgraded, others are now expected to handle more traffic, and several new routes have been built.

The largest change has been the downgrading of the former through route of New England Street in favour of a new north-south road, Fleet Street, which diverges to the west. This has allowed a large part of New England Street to be narrowed, pedestrianised and provided with cycle lanes, and a road more able to cope with the increased volumes of traffic to take its place. One effect of this was the need to reverse the flow of traffic in and out of the London Road car park.

In contrast, Cheapside is expected to take a much higher volume of traffic,^[52] as it becomes the main east-west route in the New England Quarter, taking traffic between London Road and Fleet Street, the main north-south road.

The new Kingscote Way, leading from Ann Square (foreground) to Cheapside.

New roads have been built to the west of the new Fleet Street, between there and the railway line, giving access to the car park, Bellerby's College and a new pick-up and drop-off point immediately outside the side entrance to the station. These have been named Stroudley Road and Billinton Road, after two of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway's most famous and important locomotive engineers, both of whom worked at the Brighton Locomotive Works: William Stroudley and his successor R.J. Billinton.

A pedestrian link has been created up the steep slope from Boston Street, from alongside the evangelical church visible on the right of this photograph to the Block G/Block J area on Fleet Street. This runs behind the wooden fence on the photograph.

A cul-de-sac named Kingscote Way leads from Cheapside into Blocks A and B on the core site. Meanwhile, two new pedestrianised squares - Ann Square and New England Square - have also been created within the core site.

[edit] Environmental issues

Part of the site, below and to the east of Block G, consists of a stretch of disused railway track which has for some time been designated a Site of Special Nature Conservation Importance (SNCI).^[53] This is defined as a "locally important site of nature conservation adopted by local authorities for planning purposes".^[54] This will be maintained and improved to create a "green corridor", called the Greenway.^[55] This will run from the embankment overlooking New England Road, at the northernmost point of the site (beyond Blocks L and M), through to the station. The northern section, which is already partly wooded and home to a variety of wildlife, will be maintained in this condition.

The housing developed by the Crest Nicholson/BioRegional joint venture is intended to be particularly environmentally friendly, and parts of it will be developed on a sustainable "eco-village" theme similar to that at the award-winning BedZED development in south London, 50 miles to the north. Proposals include "green lifestyle" lessons for residents, solar panels, wood-burning boilers to heat the flats, solar-powered recharging point for electric cars, roof-mounted wind turbines, a community allotment/garden irrigated by rainwater from the roof, and a high proportion of recycled materials used in construction.^[56]

[edit] Criticism and controversy

Various groups have expressed reservations about, and criticisms of, parts of the New England Quarter development or the scheme as a whole. Two aspects have been particularly controversial: the planning application for a 42-storey tower on the Block J site, which was refused but has been appealed against; and the Sainsbury's supermarket.

[edit] BUDD

Brighton Urban Design & Development (BUDD; website) is a campaign group which was set up in February 1997 in response to the original planning application for a Sainsbury's superstore and car park on what is now the New England Quarter site. Although initially created to oppose and protest against these original plans, it has subsequently developed into an all-encompassing point of contact for all issues relating to the New England Quarter development, and its stated aim is now to "stimulate, encourage and initiate sustainable urban design and development through an inclusive participatory process, to combat social exclusion and to generate schemes that integrate social, cultural and environmental benefits to Brighton and Hove."^[57] In 1999, the council awarded the group a grant which enabled it to register as an Industrial and Provident Society, noting that it was providing a significant community benefit by "providing a process for disparate communities of interest to develop their views and become involved in the planning and decision-making process".

A public meeting was held on 24 July 1997 by BUDD, at which 99% of the approximately 300 people who attended voted against the original planning application, which had been submitted in May following several months of preparation. A 4,317-name petition to the same effect was submitted to the council three months later. Marches and rallies also took place.

After the new masterplan was submitted and approved, further action was taken by protestors, mainly focusing on the Harvest Forestry building (at the corner of New England Street and Cheapside).^[58]

[edit] SchNEWS

SchNEWS, a weekly anarchist newspaper, has frequently been critical of the plans for the New England Quarter site, and has regularly advertised BUDD's public meetings, protest events and similar.^{[59] [60] [61] [62]} In April 2002, a demonstration was organised outside the existing Sainsbury's store in London Road.^[63]

[edit] Block J proposals

The original masterplan granted outline planning permission for a 250-bed hotel of five to six storeys in height. However, property development and investment company The Beetham Organization Ltd,^[64] which has in recent years built several high-profile hotels, offices and other buildings in prominent city-centre locations in Britain, bought Block J in November 2004,^[65] and submitted a revised planning application (BH2005/00136/FP) early in 2005. This sought approval for a mixed-use development as follows:

• One 42-storey building with 146 residential units (C3-category) and a hotel with ancillary facilities including a restaurant, cafés, conference facilities and a health and fitness centre
• One six-storey building with retail units (A1- and A3-category) and a further 25 residential units
• A pedestrianised public square

The application was rejected on twenty separate counts, including the negative visual impact on surrounding listed buildings such as the railway station and St Bartholomew's church; the reduction in quality of surrounding public spaces; the lack of provision of outdoor recreation space; negative effect on the surrounding microclimate, and loss of sunlight to nearby buildings; and the failure to consider fully the impact on transport. The reasons for the rejection were supported by various people and groups within the city, such as The Regency Society, which is closely involved with planning and conservation matters in Brighton and Hove.^[66]

[edit] References