7 Days of Headlines with Phil Mills
Brighton cleans up its act, the Lib-Dem conference rakes in £2m & the Volk’s Railway makes history
After tons of rubbish were left strewn on Brighton and Hove beaches by daytrippers, the city has now been praised for its clean streets.
It was handed a four-star award in the national Clean Britain Awards – in stark contrast to a few weeks ago when its “landfill-site” beaches were so bad the issue reached the debating floor of the House of Commons.
This week’s news was dominated again by the 15-year-old schoolgirl who ran off with her maths teacher to France. She is now back safe with her Sussex family and police were questioning the teacher about abduction. A story with “legs” as the media call it, one that will run and run.
There was an Olympic welcome for Brighton and Hove Mayor Bill Randall when he visited a Freshers’ Fair at Brighton Racecourse. He joined University Of Brighton Students’ Union president Jacob Kahane for some Usain Bolt and Mo Farah gold medal salutes.
And while the Lib-Dem conference may not have made gripping reading it did ring up £2m on local tills. It also gave the city world-wide publicity although it is strange how certain photographs get published more than others – photos of Nick and Miriam’s rears, for instance, appeared in more nationals than their fronts.
Plans to rationalise police helicopter services around the country will mean the closure of the Shoreham Airport base and the Sussex aircraft transferring to Surrey – a move that could delay response times and even cost lives, according to critics. Not so, says the force.
Two vehicle checks at Preston Park and Wild Park in Brighton resulted in six vehicles being seized for having no insurance, 37 penalty notices for offences such as not wearing a seatbelt, 34 penalty notices for offences such as using a mobile phone while driving, 14 defective vehicles being ordered off the roads, and more than £3,000 in outstanding parking/council fines being recovered.
The council is consulting with residents in London Road Station North and Round Hill about its proposal to introduce a residents’ parking scheme in these areas.
The consultation is in response to “concerns raised by some residents about parking”. Consultation runs until 9 November.
Meanwhile, Brighton’s iconic Volk’s railway, the world’s oldest operating electric railway, is also set to become the world’s first solar powered electric railway. Plans include five large solar “trees” on Madeira Drive, a new train shed with solar panels on the roof and a public viewing gallery inside, and all-weather train providing shelter for passengers. The aim is to keep the railway open for business all year round using state-of-the-art sustainable power and ensure its long term future.
There were two rants this week, one from a Sussex surgeon who said: “If the Olympic legacy of more people taking up sport comes true then the NHS will collapse under the strain – we’re already overloaded with sports injury casualties.” And George Jones emailed: “Coldean Lane has been a nightmare for motorists for weeks. They first installed a footpath at the junction with Lewes Road. That took forever and meant two lanes of traffic filtering into one. Days after it was finished they dug it up again. Lines of traffic stretch all the way up Colean Lane and days go by when you don’t see any workmen there. It’s a farce – but it’s no joke.”
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