More rubbish in the streets - The Argus April 21st

There was a featured letter in the Argus yesterday from a resident of Lincoln Street, together with a photo of rubbish strewn all over the street in front of someone's doorway. This very much reflects what many people have been saying to us, that it's a growing problem and is letting the area down.

The issue is in large part caused by people leaving their ordinary refuse (not recycling) outside the house all week rather than inside the house or in the back garden, and only putting it out on collection day, which is by law what you are supposed to do. In a street like Washington or Coleman where there is no space outside the front of the house, the refuse is essentially blocking the pavement, and, as the weather gets better, becoming smelly and unhygienic. When the seagulls get hold of it that's when it ends up everywhere.

I've spoken at length to CityClean staff about what is being done, and it really is not an easy problem. However, I do think that by focussing on the problem and bringing people together to deal with it, the situation can be improved. Labour's manifesto includes a commitment to re-introduce Grime-Fighter days, where council officers, police, parking attendants, trading standards officers, graffiti busters and others got together to sort out problems in particular areas. I think that idea would be of real benefit in this ward.

Aside from that, I think we'd get results simply from more persistence in dealing with the problem, following through with people and making sure everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing. And being prepared to follow that up with warning letters and fines where necessary.

It must be remembered that CityClean's budget this year has been cut, and this has affected the number of street cleaners. This doesn't bode well for getting the streets cleaner, but it does make it more important that we try to prevent rubbish being strewn everywhere in the first place.

Tracey Hill

Election fatigue already?!

The sign on this front door made us all smile the other day. I'm not sure it had the desired effect, as we all got our cameras out to take a snap!

Leo Barraclough: Varndean and academies

A number of parents have asked me to set out my views on whether I think Varndean School should apply for academy status.
They are as follows:
-- I do not believe that academy status would be beneficial for the school, its staff, the students and their parents, nor for the wider community of Brighton and Hove.
-- I believe the school, and other successful schools like it, would do better to stay within the local education authority.
So, should the proposal be made, I will oppose it.
If we enter a consultative period, I will propose that we have a ballot of all parents, and that the views of parents of those children who may wish to come to the school in the future should be considered too.
With regards to the minutes of the recent full governors meeting, I have informed my fellow governors that I wish them to be published in full immediately.
As the Labour Party states in its manifesto for Brighton and Hove, while we do accept that academy status with real additional resources and fresh thinking could be a way to revive a failing school, we do not agree with the coalition government's approach of virtually forcing all successful schools to become academies, while LEAs are dismantled and other schools are under funded in order to pay for the socially divisive 'free schools'.

Leo Barraclough, parent governor, Varndean School; governor in charge of liaison with the parents' association, Varndean Links; deputy chair of the Student Management committee at Varndean; Labour Party candidate for Hanover and Elm Grove ward, Brighton.
18 April 2011

Hanover Day is going ahead - June 12th

It was great to hear recently that after some difficulties mainly caused by poor weather, Hanover Day will be happening this year on 12th June. That's not far off, and there is loads to do, so if anyone is able to help, the organisers would love to hear from you via Hanoverdayassociation@gmail.com

Tracey

Former Lib Dem Candidate now helping Labour

See our article: Ellen Woolley (left), previously a Lib Dem candidate in Hanover and Elm Grove, is now supporting Labour. Many Lib Dem voters all over the ward have expressed the same disappointment as Ellen. Labour is the only party that can stop this coalition government. Please support us!

Some familiar faces in Hanover and on the Patch

Our fantastic  2010 parliamentary candidate, Nancy Platts, joined us in the ward on Sunday together with her partner Steve, as we appeared to jump suddenly from winter to summer! It was great to see them out and about again, and it's impressive how well known Nancy still is, having done so much in the ward.

Sunday was a busy day in the city with the Marathon, the food festival, and Spring in the Patch, which we dropped in on too. Not enough time to do it all!

Rubbish in the streets - reclaiming the pavements

I spoke to a resident of Islingword Street a few weeks ago, who said that in decades of living in Hanover, there had never been more rubbish in the street than now. Narrow pavements and binvelopes together with other bags piled up sometimes mean that it's impossible to walk along two abreast. On Jersey Street I saw a man with a buggy, who had to stop and move someone's binvelope out of the way to get down the pavement.

The problems have been mentioned by numerous people, and if elected we would definitely be focusing on it. The narrow streets are too small for conventional flip-top bins, which is the origin of the problem. However, they haven't got narrower over the years! So if it wasn't a problem in days gone by it must be resolvable.

We would work with CityClean and aim to come out with a street-by-street plan for clearing the rubbish and keeping the pavements clear. This would involve a number of different things including raising awareness of what residents' responsibilities are, and of what can be recycled, and making sure action is taken when rubbish is left outside on the wrong day, etc.

As the resident said to me: never mind reclaiming the streets - let's get the pavements back first!

Tracey Hill

Big Lemon: a Social Enterprise which the city should support

In 2008, the Council published a strategy to support social enterprises. A social enterprise is a business which has a clear social or environmental purpose above and beyond economic performance. The Big Lemon is an example, because it runs on used cooking oil instead of petrol or diesel, and because of its community values. It has won awards, and fulfils one of the wider benefits of social enterprises, namely raising the bar for other companies.

However, it does not have the easiest of business models, and is currently under threat because of price changes on the main Brighton to Falmer route meaning that it has seen a loss of revenue.

The Council and the Brighton and Hove Bus Company do work closely together, and in addition to that the Council has a strategy to support and promote social enterprises. I've written to Cllr Geoffrey Thobald, Cabinet member for the Environment, asking him to consider ways in which the Council can support the Big Lemon so that it can continue operating.

Many residents of Hanover and Elm Grove are students, or work at the Falmer campuses, and many of them use Big Lemon services. The more public transport options are available along the Lewes Road the better, as they encourage people to use alternatives to cars: that's beneficial for air quality, the climate, and parking in local streets.

Big Lemon clearly offers a service that's valued by the city, and one that deserves some support.

Tracey Hill