News: The Vote with Frank Le Duc
Key transport, parking and environment questions are due to be decided at a marathon meeting of councillors
Ten members of Brighton and Hove City Council are due to spend several hours today (Tuesday) settling some crucial questions that affect how we get around. They will also be debating what happens when we stop, such as whether we will need a permit to park. Motorbikes, bus lanes and cycle lanes are up for discussion, along with plans to keep our roads safe if it snows.
But before members of the council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee tackle the 19 main items of business, the public will have a chance to ask questions and present petitions. Then the councillors themselves will put questions on communal bins, rubbish collections and the
Hove Station footbridge.
Members will then decide whether to approve the Highways Winter Service Plan. It explains how and when the council deploys its gritters and ploughs and its stockpile of salt and grit. It has 420 salt and grit bins for public use. Last year with no “snow events” the council used just 230 tonnes of salt compared with thousands the year before. The plan includes advice for the residents – shovel, sweep
and salt – but doesn’t appear to address the question that many ask each year about public liability.
Few of us will be unaffected by the decisions made
Parking looms large. The citywide parking review suggests looking at whether to bring in permit parking in streets to the north of Preston Drove and east of the railway line. And it holds out the prospect of another look at coach parking.
There are reports on proposed new or extended controlled parking zones in Wish ward in Hove, at Baker’s Bottom, north of Preston Park Station and in the Lewes Road Triangle in Brighton. Double yellow lines by Withdean Sports Complex are on the table, so to speak.
And the parking annual report is expected to be approved. It records a profit of about £14.5 million which is spent on transport projects. About £10 million supports free bus travel for pensioners. The annual report gives the number of parking tickets issued – almost 118,000 – and the number which were challenged – 35,000. Of those, more than half were cancelled or written off. A small number of drivers appealed to an adjudicator – 507 last year – with more than half succeeding on their merits or because the council dropped its case.
Today’s meeting is due to discuss the pedestrianisation of East Street, including ways of making sure beer deliveries can still be made to a couple of pubs.
Councillors will also share their thoughts on a proposed crossing in Church Road, Portslade, near a primary school. Campaigners are pleased that there is progress but may disagree on the proposed crossing’s exact location.
Members will also hear about the cost of refurbishing toilets in Preston Park and will be asked
to agree a timetable. They will be invited to approve opening up some bus lanes to motorcyclists. And they will be told about the cycle lanes proposed for Dyke Road between Old Shoreham Road and The Upper Drive.
An Open Spaces Strategy is on their agenda, along with details of four potential Centenary Fields to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War. And at the Horsdean travellers site, with permanent pitches due to be created, the committee is being asked to approve a needs-based allocations policy. Those wanting a transit – or temporary – pitch are allocated them on a first come, first served basis.
And there’s the plan for Valley Gardens. Labour first suggested revamping the green spaces and adjoining roads. The party is less enthusiastic about the Green administration’s scheme. The
cost, the details and the process are all likely to be criticised.
The marathon meeting is due to start at 4pm today (Tuesday) at Hove Town Hall. People may be surprised that these meetings draw a crowd, albeit smaller than the Albion, and that people watch them on a webcast – some live, some later. But few of us will be unaffected by the decisions made.
