Tim Ridgway’s Latest News: This week’s headlines from across the city

“I’ve got the message” – those were the words of Prime Minister David Cameron when pushed on where £420 million for the Royal Sussex County Hospital was.

The Prime Minister was quizzed on the issue of the redevelopment of Brighton’s major hospital during a visit to Peacehaven’s Meridian Centre last week.

The trip was sold as a way for the Conservative leader to explain changes in the budget which were intended to help pensioners.

But with Tory party members filling the audience, it quickly turned into a way for local politicians to raise issues important to them.

With the hospital still not receiving funding from the treasury despite being granted planning permission two years ago, Brighton Kemptown MP Simon Kirby has been pushing the issue with Tory colleagues in government.

Labour locally has questioned his commitment to the issue though claiming he came to the campaign late and pointed out that he has not asked questions on it to health ministers in Parliament.

And with the general election just over a year away, expect the political hot potato to be fought over for months to come.

For a video report on Mr Cameron’s visit, visit www.thelatest.tv.

March for England
Stay away from our seafront – that is the message politicians are set to deliver to nationalist protesters. Next month, hundreds of people are expected to descend on Brighton for the March for England protest. With counter-campaigners also signalling their intention to gather, traders fear a repeat of last year’s scenes where businesses were damaged and people deterred from visiting on a busy Bank holiday weekend.

“The Prime Minister was quizzed on the issue of the RSCH redevelopment”

Brighton and Hove councillors have pledged to ask march organisers to stay away from the promenade when they come to town on 27 April. Last year’s protest saw a policing operation costing £500,000 fail to control the two groups of protesters.

City Boulevard
A city shopping street is to have a Hollywood makeover in a bid to boost trade.
For years, Brighton’s London Road and its independent traders have suffered as customers look elsewhere. But as part of the bid to boost its fortunes, Latest 7 can now reveal that officials are considering renaming the street City Boulevard.

It has been suggested that starting afresh with an LA-type name would bring more people to an area where new developments such as the Open Market and former Co-op building are already creating a buzz. The move is the latest in a range of measures after Brighton and Hove City Council was awarded money thanks to the Portas Pilot.

Fracking
Campaigners have called for a national ban against fracking following a public meeting. Dozens of people attended the event in the Brighthelm Centre in North Road, Brighton last week. All Sussex anti-fracking groups were present as they showed their opposition to the controversial method of extracting shale gas deep underneath the earth’s surface. It came in the same week that Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas stood trial after her arrest at an anti-fracking protest in Balcombe last summer.

She and four other protesters were charged with obstructing a highway and breaching public order by refusing to move after being ordered to do so by a police officer. The result of the trial was not known at the time of going to print.

National Teachers’ strike
Hundreds of protesters took to the city’s streets last week for a national teachers’ strike. It was part of an ongoing campaign against changes to working conditions, pensions and pay. More than 1,000 people – including a group of Govebusters – marched through the city to a rally in the Brighthelm Centre in North Road.

Borderline Records
It was the end of an era as Borderline Records, in Gardner Street, Brighton, closed its doors for the last time. The shop in the heart of North Laine has been selling records for more than 30 years. But pointing to the rise of internet sales and increasing business rates, owners Dave Minns and Sian Davis, both 64, have taken the decision to retire.