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Brighton and Hove City Council leader Mary Mears on investing in young people Right Here right now

It’s easy to knock teenagers. Like most people I had a chuckle at the ‘Kevin’ character on The Fast Show a few years back. But I think we should spend more time celebrating all the good things they put their energies into.

Did you know, for example, that an amazing 3,500 young people are actively involved in our city’s Duke of Edinburgh awards scheme? These are all people engaging with their communities and helping other people – and without looking for publicity. They’re just getting on with it.
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Hunt renewed for Seaford attacker, jail for road test impersonator and joy for driver passing 21st time. Phil Mills reports.

Brighton and Hove’s parking policies made national headlines last week.

Under the banner “Motorists |hit by soaring parking ‘tax’” the Sunday Telegraph claimed ‘tariff increases, some of up to 25 per cent’ and loss of free parking spaces through extension of resident parking zones in the city, had netted the council £318,000.
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Brighton and Hove City Council leader Mary Mears wages war on chewing gum

If you walk along West Street at any time of day, you will encounter a blot on the beautiful urban landscape of the city.

This unsightly mess has the ability to cling to our streets for years and attaches itself to people’s shoes and clothes, ruining them for good.

Yes, I’m talking about chewing gum litter, an anti-social scourge that has blighted Brighton & Hove for years.There are something like 50,000 pieces on the short stretch between the piers alone. This council and most others have got used to spending anything up to £3,000 for brief clean-ups by specialist contractors that concentrate on stretches a mile or two long. Because of the expense, cities like ours can only afford to do this eight or nine times a year.
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Phil Mills on Cameron’s encounter with protesters, the helicopter crew finding a walkabout toddler and Albion banning the vuvuzela

Never work with children and animals, the saying goes, but Sussex Police did both and came out heroes.

A three-year-old boy who went walkabout with his golden labrador from their home near Uckfield was spotted by the crew of the Sussex Police helicopter. A full-scale search was launched and the helicopter crew spotted the pair more than a mile from his home.
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