In Brief
HYDE HOUSING PLANS WIN BACKING FOR HOMES ON PARK HOUSE SITE
One of the biggest housing associations in Brighton and Hove, Hyde Housing, will learn on 4 April whether it can build 71 flats facing Hove Park. It wants to demolish the former language school on the corner of Old Shoreham Road and Goldstone crescent and replace it with a five-storey building and a basement car park.
If the planning committee accepts the recommendation by officials, Hyde will pay the council £407,000 in what is known as section 106 money. This will go towards education, sustainable transport, jobs and preserving open spaces.
Thirty of the flats will be classed as “affordable homes” with five of them fully accessible for disabled people in wheelchairs. The scheme will also include 126 parking spaces for bicycles. Forty seven people have sent in letters of objection to the plans criticising the height, the size and scale of the proposed building and its design.
Hyde has failed in previous attempts to secure planning permission for this site. Councillors on the planning committee are being advised that the application is acceptable and should be granted with conditions.
CYCLISTS WANT PROM BAN LIFTED ALONG THE SEAFRONT IN HOVE
Cyclists are calling for an end to the ban on bikes on the seafront in Hove. A petition signed by 159 people was presented to a meeting at Hove Town Hall last week. It said: “We petition the council to remove the ban on cycling on Hove promenade between the Peace Statue to the end of Hove Lawns.”
Brighton and Hove City Council cabinet member Councillor Pete West formally noted the petition. His colleague, Councillor Ian Davey, is expected to ask officials to look at the request more fully in the coming months. At present, the cycle path runs along the comparatively narrow pavement next to the road in Kingsway in Hove. It runs along the wider promenade for a short stretch behind the King Alfred Leisure Centre. The council currently permits its own staff to use motor vehicles along the prom. Powered mobility scooters are also allowed on the prom.
BANK WORKERS IN CHARITY DRIVE RAISE £20K FOR ROCKINGHORSE
Staff at Lloyds Banking Group have raised more than £20,000 for the Rockinghorse Children’s Charity. The money will go towards the cost of buying life-saving equipment for premature babies at the Trevor Mann Baby Unit at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.
Ross Harper, Lloyds’ sports and social co-ordinator for Brighton and Hove, said that colleagues across East Sussex had been finding fun ways to fundraise. Activities included bake sales, raffles, a wear your pyjamas to work day, a dragon boat race and a bungee jump.
The team also gave over 400 volunteering hours through their Day To Make A Difference scheme to help out at a number of Rockinghorse events including the charity’s annual ball and the Brighton Marathon. One member of staff, Evan Digney, raised £700 cycling from London to Paris. The bank matched up to £500 in sponsorship per person from the Lloyds TSB Foundation.
Ria Wilson, Rockinghorse’s corporate fundraising manager, said: “We’re extremely grateful for all their hard work, especially to Ross for heading up the team and getting everyone excited about our work.” To find out how to help visit www.rockinghorse.org.uk or call 01273 330044
