Those happy loppers – Portslade Green Gym – will be visiting Madeira Drive again soon with Building Green, to work their magic on the historic green wall.
Thursday 16 March, 10am – 1pm.
Drop by and say hello if you can!
Madeira Drive Green wall below Paston Place, 10 October 2016
Portslade Green Gym volunteers will be at the Madeira Drive green wall again this week, working up a sweat whilst maintaining our natural heritage.
Madeira Drive Green wall below Paston Place, 10 October 2016
They will be tidying up the vegetation along the footpath, helping to maintain the biodiversity of the area whilst keeping things shipshape for pedestrians.
Why not pop along during the morning of 13 October 2016.
Madeira Drive green wall and Duke’s Mound from the air, 1935
Building Green is working with the Council and volunteers to protect this Victorian green wall – planted c1850 – and in time restore it along its length. It is the longest of its kind in the UK, and was planned alongside the unique listed Victorian ironwork of Madeira Terrace, the Shelter Hall, and the Volks Electric Railway.
Find out more here – more coming soon.
New designs have been published for Madeira Drive – attempting to address the restoration of the Victorian arches whilst regenerating the seafront between the Pier and Marina.
This is the latest in a number of ideas – see Michael Doyle’s and the Council backed ideas of Sea Lanes and the ‘Lockwood Project’ that aims to retain and enhance the historic green wall.
Paul Nicholson (Chalk Architects) favours luxury flats and a park at the level of Marine Parade modelled on the New York High Line.
Visualisation here.
Clearly it would mean the end of sections, at least, of the historic planting and established biodiversity on the Madeira Drive Green Wall, but to remain open minded it may create additional valuable habitat and open space for people and wildlife.
Whether this will remain a fanciful sketch, or a vision fulfilled, remains to be seen. Building Green will want to be involved if this gets off the drawing table.
Brighton & Hove Building Green 