It’s been nearly a year since I took on the role of chairman of the Greater Brighton Economic Board which means it is a good time to look back and reflect on what has been delivered in the last 12 months. When I took up the role on the rotating annual basis, I made clear that the time was right for ...
Making Greater Brighton genuinely greater
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Labour elects new leader for Brighton and Hove
Labour councillors have chosen a new leader at their annual general meeting (AGM) at Hove Town Hall this evening (Monday 23 April). Councillor Dan Yates was elected unopposed and is expected to become the next leader of Brighton and Hove City Council. He will lead his party and the minority administ...
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Plan to add extra floor to Hove block of flats cut down to size
Plans to add an extra floor to a block of flats in Hove have been cut down to size. The proposals went against the spirit of the original scheme, according to a veteran councillor. Carol Theobald criticised the proposal to add a fourth storey to the block at 9 The Upper Drive, Hove. The Conservative...
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Opinion – As temporary custodians of Brighton and Hove, it’s our job to enhance the inheritance we hand on
This is my last column for Brighton and Hove News as leader of the city council before I hand over to Councillor Dan Yates on Thursday 17 May. It’s been an enormous privilege to lead the city over the past three years and the Labour and Co-operative group of councillors for the last five. In 2...
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No one’s idea of a dream dwelling – but plans for compact home in Hove approved
It won’t be “anyone’s idea of a dream dwelling” but plans for a three-bedroom house with a small garden in Hove were approved by councillors on Wednesday (9 May). The tiny house will occupy a small plot at the back of 35 Brunswick Place. At 90sqm, it is only slightly bigger than the government...
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Homes and health top new Brighton and Hove council leader’s ‘to do’ list
Housing is the top priority for the man expected to become the new leader of Brighton and Hove City Council this afternoon (Thursday 17 May). Councillor Daniel Yates is well aware that he has a short amount of time to make a visible impact on a long-term problem. But with a year until the next local...
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Housing campaigner uncovers identity of sub-contractor accused of overcharging Brighton and Hove council by six-figure sum
A housing campaigner has uncovered the identity of a sub-contractor accused of overcharging Brighton and Hove City Council by a six-figure sum. Steve Parry revealed that MA Construction (Brighton), a Portslade company, was responsible for embroiling housing maintenance and repairs contractor Mears i...
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Brighton tenant rep criticises delays in dealing with emergency repairs
Poor communication between a housing contractor’s call centre staff and its repair crews was blamed for delays in dealing with emergency repairs. The issue was raised at a Brighton and Hove City Council Housing Management Panel meeting. Tenants’ representative Janet Gearing gave examples in re...
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Empty council homes cost £913k in lost rent
More than £913,000 was lost in rent due to empty council homes in Brighton and Hove in the last six months of the financial year. A total of 37 homes were empty for six weeks or more as of 1 April, with two houses having been empty for more than 800 days. One, in Moulsecoomb and Bevendean, was origi...
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Brighton tenant raises concern about misuse of parking permits
People living in sheltered housing in Brighton are concerned about other residents trading parking permits, a tenants representative has alleged. Sloane Court representative Tony McCoy told a Brighton and Hove City Council housing panel how his neighbours were fighting a battle to put people off kee...
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Neighbours fight plans for eight-storey block of flats on Hove seafront
Neighbours have banded together to fight plans for an eight-storey block of flats on Hove seafront. So far Brighton and Hove City Council has received 72 letters of objection to the proposals to demolish three homes at 239-243 Kingsway to build the block of 37 flats. One of them, Oli Urpi, is concer...
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Brighton and Hove’s Green councillors prepare for the future
Once again the Conservative government is talking the talk but not walking the walk on the environment with a 25 year environment “plan” that won’t commit the country to any action until 2030. At the same time as feigning concern for our green spaces, new government proposals mean it will soon be as...
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Hopes for new Brighton doctors’ surgery bolstered
Plans to build a new doctors’ surgery in Brighton will be given a boost if councillors can be persuaded to bridge a gap in NHS rules and funding. They are being asked to back a scheme for a new surgery at the Preston Barracks site in Lewes Road. But NHS reforms prevent the Brighton and Hove Clinical...
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Planners may pull the plug on Hove flats
Permission for new flats and offices on a site in Hove may be withdrawn by planners. The scheme to demolish Portslade Panel Works and build a five-story block on the corner of Orchard Gardens, Hove, is under threat as the owner has not completed its legal requirements. Plans include offices on the g...
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Brighton hotel owner risks losing permission to convert building into flats
Plans for flats at Preston Park Hotel in Brighton may not go ahead. After 18-months of inaction, officers are recommending that Brighton and Hove City Council Planning Committee refuses permission when it meets at Hove Town Hall this afternoon (Wednesday 6 June). When the plans for 22 flats were giv...
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Brighton and Hove planners fire warning shot over ‘land banking’
Planners are putting fresh pressure on developers in Brighton and Hove as they seek to increase the number of affordable homes being built. They aim to tackle “land-banking”, the name given to the practice of gaining planning permission for a project, which increases the value of a site, but then no...
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Brighton table tennis match raises money for day centre for homeless
Brighton Table Tennis Club (BTTC) has handed over a £150 cheque to support the work of First Base, the day centre for street homeless run by Brighton Housing Trust (BHT). The money was raised through an exhibition match between pro-players Craig Bryan and Wen Wei Xu. The club runs regular sessions a...
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Fewer tenants evicted from emergency and temporary homes in Brighton and Hove
Fewer tenants are being evicted from emergency and temporary homes in Brighton and Hove even though more people have been housed in this way. And concerns that tenants were suffering revenge evictions – losing their home for making a complaint – were unjustified, councillors were told. A...
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One year on from Grenfell: why housing regulation is still needed
One year on from the horrors of the Grenfell Tower Fire and the public inquiry has shown us the grief faced by those who have been left behind. Relatives and friends of the 72 people lost to the fire have paid moving tributes – a harrowing reminder of the unacceptable loss of life on that day. The i...
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Seafront flats plan will leave bedroom of Hove house ‘floating in mid air’
The quirky design of a Hove house means that if plans to demolish the adjoining building to make way for a new block of flats goes ahead, its first floor could be left “floating” in mid air. Wayne Coley and husband Olly Carter were surprised when they discovered the odd way their 1926 ho...
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