SCAPE project: Patcham and Central Hove

Proposals to improve Carden Avenue and Norton Road

September 2021 update

In 2018, Brighton & Hove City Council invited design proposals to improve the environments of Carden Avenue and Norton Road, with the aim of helping divert surface water run-off away from vulnerable properties in these areas.

Representatives from the council, external experts and the local community selected proposals submitted by Robert Bray Associates (RBA). Feedback from the public informed the decision of the selection panels.

RBA has been working with the council and the local communities to further develop their proposals for construction.

Carden Avenue

Phase 1: Darcey Drive

Ground works for this phase were completed in December 2020 and final planting work completed in April 2021.

The diagram shows that surface water run-off will be directed through the vegetated area between Darcey Drive and Carden Avenue. The run-off should flow to a drain on the far side of the vegetated area away from County Oak Avenue.

Phase 2 (top of Carden Avenue)

Construction works commenced in late August 2021 and are estimated to last four months.

The diagram shows that surface water run-off will flow down the vegetated area alongside the tyop side of Carden Avenue opposite Carden Primary School. The water will flow down the street towards Midhurst Rise.

Phase 3 (at the bottom of Carden Avenue): future works (budget permitting)

We will start Phase 3 if there is enough budget left after we have completed Phase 2.

Phase 3 will require significant realignment of the underground services. As with all civil engineering works, there are potential additional costs for ‘unknowns’ that may come to light during the construction works.

If there is not enough left in the budget to complete phase 3, phases 1 and 2 will together still provide an integrated scheme in diverting and accommodating a significant volume of surface water runoff from the roads.

The diagram shows the run-off along the bottom of Carden Avenue. It shows that the run-off is being kept to the vegetated areas where possible. The run-off will travel past Midhurst Rise in the direction of Darcey Drive.

Norton Road

The detailed design has been developed and costed. The costings were found to exceed the project budget and the scheme is currently on-hold, awaiting a suitable funding opportunity.

Shaping Climate Change Adaptive Places (SCAPE)

Between 2017 and 2020 we are working with local communities, urban professionals and our INTERREG 2 Seas SCAPE partners on the Shaping Climate Change Adaptive Places (SCAPE).

The SCAPE project aims to develop 'Landscape-led Design' solutions for water management that make coastal landscapes in the 2 Seas area better adapted and more resilient to climate change. 

SCAPE will work with the key stakeholders to:

• increase the cost effectiveness of water management techniques
• deliver pilots to test innovative tools and solutions that reduce surface flooding
• provide wider community benefits

The project will bring together water managers, planners and architects from across the partnership to jointly develop an approach that uses aspects of the local landscape to reduce flooding in rural, urban and fringe coastal areas.

SCAPE is partly financed through the Interreg 2 Seas Programme. This is a European Territorial Cooperation Programme and therefore an integral part of the European Union’s Cohesion Policy. It is led by the City of Ostend (Belgium) and promotes cross-border cooperation between the coastal regions of four member states: France, England, Belgium/Flanders and the Netherlands.

If you have any questions, please send an email to planningprojects@brighton-hove.gov.uk or call 01273 292352.