Coach parking space on Madeira Drive in Brighton could be lost if Brighton and Hove City Council decides to turn the current temporary road closure there into one that is permanent.
Madeira Drive has been off limits to motor vehicles since 20 April under emergency powers granted in response to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Road space has been given over to pedestrians and cyclists. As a result, coach parking bays on Madeira Drive are currently inaccessible.
The council is now considering whether to make the closure permanent. A consultation on its website runs until 31 October and among other questions it asks whether respondents support a permanent closure. Any concrete proposals for such a measure will be consulted on separately.
An e-petition has been launched on the same website calling for an immediate reopening of Madeira Drive to all traffic. At the time of writing, it had attracted 10,418 signatures. A separate petition, asking for the closure to be extended to the end of 2020, has received 3,342 signatures. Both will be presented to a full council meeting scheduled to be held on 13 August.
The council’s Conservative group has offered a compromise proposal that involves turning over part of Madeira Drive to one-way traffic before returning the road to its original format later. That would retain coach parking under both scenarios, the group says.
Brighton and Hove City Council has not yet confirmed whether alternative coach parking would be provided should the closure of Madeira Drive be made permanent.
