Cllrs Sue Shanks and Ellen McLeay
Time flies when you’ re busy! As your ward councillors, we’ ve spent the past few months tackling housing issues, chronic pavement parking, dangerous junctions, concerns about events on green spaces, advocating for the public release of the Providence Place redevelopment plans, and supporting volunteer groups for the glyphosate opt-out scheme.
Brighton is a spectacular place to live during the summer, and we hope you’ ve been enjoying the beautiful sunshine and arts festival vibes. However, throughout the spring and summer months, we must also expect nature to flourish along our streets with – dare we say – weeds!
Why must we make such a fuss about weeds? One beautiful definition would suggest a weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. While weeds, especially flowering ones, are vital for urban biodiversity, providing food and shelter for pollinators, they can also cause problems when left unchecked, particularly for wheelchair users and those with mobility scooters.
Since the pandemic, the council has struggled to manage the weed issue citywide, leading the new Labour administration to reintroduce glyphosate, a herbicide banned in 2019 due to its carcinogenic risks and harmful effects on biodiversity. Glyphosate also poses a high risk of contaminating local water sources, including the aquifer beneath Brighton & Hove.
In January 2024, glyphosate was reintroduced in areas where weeds had damaged roads and pavements. However, after a strong campaign from environmental groups, the council has allowed communities to“ opt out” of glyphosate use. In our ward, only West Hill is targeted, with six streets affected: Bath Street, Howard Place, Clifton Street, Buckingham Road( between Buckingham Place and West Hill Road), West Hill Place, and Compton Avenue.
Residents there have embraced the“ optout” scheme, with volunteer teams signed up to manually tackle weeds over three action days over the course of the year. The council are also providing tools and training. This initiative supports the call for a glyphosate-free Brighton, encourages community involvement, and promotes the benefits of physical exercise- think“ Good Gym” style action, all while protecting our local environment. It’ s also proving to be a great way for neighbours to connect and get acquainted. If you want to engage with your local group, let us know and we can connect you. Our email addresses are at the end of this article.
We wanted to share feedback from one resident following weeding action on their street:“ It was great to meet our neighbours. I notice that other roads have been sprayed but our street remains lush and green, which is
a result for us. Generally, I think it’ s fostering great community spirit, so we plan to do more.”
Another major development is the recent Cabinet decision on the Community Infrastructure Levy( CIL), which could support improvements to your local area.
In March, a report on CIL was approved at a Cabinet meeting. CIL is a charge placed on new developments by local authorities to help fund the infrastructure needed to support growth. The levy includes both a strategic citywide fund and a neighbourhood fund.
The new arrangements for CIL spending aim to directly benefit local communities. The report recommends allocating £ 2.42m from the citywide CIL pot for seafront regeneration projects in 2024 / 25, including Madeira Terrace, Black Rock, and Hove Beach Park.
In our ward, we’ ve seen significant development, meaning our neighbourhood CIL allocation is one of the highest in the city- £ 38,000. Ward councillors will play a key role in deciding which local projects receive funding. Neighbourhood CIL is strictly tied to the area where development has occurred and cannot be redistributed to other wards.
We want to hear your ideas for small infrastructure projects- things that will improve the ward, such as a pocket park or a children’ s swing. While £ 38,000 won’ t cover major road changes, it can make a big impact on local amenities. Let us know what you think!
In other news, you may have seen disturbing national press coverage concerning Brighton’ s decades-long dispute between the council and the GMB union with reports of death threats and sabotage at the waste depot. While these reports are unsettling to read, it is important to note that we must not tarnish all members of staff with the bad behaviour of a few employees. So many of the City Clean workforce are honest, hardworking people who care about the community and the environment. We have heard reports that bin collectors were verbally abused during their rounds – which isn’ t fair when there is no direct evidence against those individuals. Some members of staff suffered through years of bullying and harassment and are the whistle blowers who exposed the scale of the issue. Please show respect to those who continue to collect our bins during these challenging times.
We’ re aware of concerns about rising antisocial behaviour( ASB) in the North Laine, New Rd, Zion Gdns, St. Nicholas’ Church, and around Valley Gardens. Being a central part of the city, a certain level of ASB is to be expected. We are also aware that communities feel their reports haven’ t led to action. There are a few hot spots that have been identified in our ward that a Joint Action Group( JAG) are addressing. The JAG is a multi-agency partnership that uses data to identify areas of threat, harm, or vulnerability, and aims to respond to emerging patterns of crime and incidents. It has worked well for businesses and residents impacted by a significant rise in ASB over the past year. Through a consistent approach orchestrated by the JAG, we are now seeing improvements in the London Road area. We hope we will start to see improvements in the other hot spot areas as well – particularly Zion Gdns and New Road.
If you’ re noticing an increase in ASB, please report it to the police so they can take action. For emergencies, call 999; for nonemergencies, call 101, or report online at sussex. police. uk / report-online.
If the problem is persistent and escalating, contact us, your councillors, and we’ ll help connect you with the right support.
l Sue. Shanks @ brighton-hove. gov. uk l Ellen. Mcleay @ brighton-hove. gov. uk
l Green Party cllr West Hill and North Laine ward