In the Council meeting at which the wheel was approved, permission was granted only on condition that the lighting plan was also approved. So far, this has not happened, and in fact a proposal which was submitted was so flimsy on detail that it has been rejected.
This is in addition to a number of other oversights and flawed communications. We understand that the Council’s own Design & Conservation team are annoyed that they recommended approval of only an unlit structure and might not have done so had they known the truth. This puts the legality of the planning permission on very shaky ground. We expect the Council may now be getting nervous as the prospect looms of having to cancel permission. The longer they leave it, the greater perhaps is the risk of their being sued by the developers!
But the point remains that right now, as the wheel begins to tower over Kemptown, it has no permission to operate and will prove to be an expensive white elephant — and sadly considerably bigger than a real elephant!
Below is a link to a PDF file from the Council meeting where the application is described as “minor”. The wheel application begins on page 113. Page 116, section 12, includes the condition which shows that the wheel must not start operating until the lighting design has been approved:
http://present.brighton-hove.gov.uk/mgConvert2Pdf.aspx?ID=10167&T=9
Meanwhile, we have prepared an image giving some idea of the way the wheel will affect Madeira Place at night. This is a typical lighting arrangement which will be in place all the way through to midnight, 365 days a year. In addition to this lighting there are also the dozen or so security floodlights which will be on for the queueing area and structure, some of them 24 hours a day.