New bus shelters.

The city is to get 5 new bus shelters at sites prioritised  according to the exposure to weather, distance from any other shelter, and number of requests from the public.

Warren Road, top of Bear Rd.

Warren Road, top of Wilson Av.

Grand Avenue, Kings House

Stanley Deason Leisure Centre, Wilson Avenue

New England Rise.

The estimated cost is £550,000 which is over £100,000 each. It seems on the high side for a fairly basic, largely refabricated, structure, but I suppose there are reasons . . .

Roedean School bus-stop

BHCC Transport Team are asking for views about a proposal to remove the westbound A259 ‘Roedean School’ bus stop on safety grounds. This is the stop opposite Roedean School heading towards Brighton. The council is gathering comments in order to make an informed decision which takes in to account the views of everyone who may be interested.

There are no plans to remove or change the Roedean School stop on the eastbound side of the road, which would remain in use. 

A central refuge would reduce the risks but presumably both stops are so lightly used that the cost would not be justified.

Email: transport.projects@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Brighton Story 1955

Protecting Parks & Open Spaces

One of the annual invasions of Preston Park

From April this year new powers to deal with specific anti-social behaviour will start to be enforced in the following 12 parks and open spaces:-

• The seafront including the A259 from Black Rock to Hove Lagoon.
• The Greenway (adjacent to New England Quarter) 
• Hollingbury Park 
• Lawn Memorial Cemetery and adjacent land (Woodingdean) 
• Preston Park 
• Rottingdean Recreation Ground 
• Sheepcote Valley and East Brighton Park 
• St Helen's Park 
• Stanmer Park 
• Surrenden Field 
• Waterhall 
• Wild Park

These Public Space Protections Orders (PSPOs) were approved in July 2106 following a public consultation earlier in the year. The PSPOs remain in force for a maximum of three years.

The PSPOs cover anti-social activities in the areas including people living in vehicles and tents, driving on the grass, defecating, lighting fires and fly-tipping.

Where they apply, the PSPOs impose prohibitions on:

• Occupying any vehicle, caravan, tent or other structure
• Driving any vehicle on grass
• Littering or fly tipping
• Lighting or maintaining a fire
• Defecating or urinating

On request by an authorised officer, police officer or PCSO, anyone challenged needs to:

• remove any vehicle, caravan, tent or other structure within 12 hours
• dispose of items as directed
• permit a council, police or fire officer to extinguish a fire
• provide a name, address and date of birth when required to do so by a council or police officer

Breaching a Public Space Protection Order is a criminal offence. and may result in a fixed penalty notice of up to £100 or prosecution and, on conviction, a fine of up to £1,000.

St. Michael's Way

St. Michael is the name, chosen by travellers, that has been given to the city's first official travellers' site. Built over the last 2 years it has provided 12 new permanent pitches and 21 transit pitches at a cost of £70,000 per pitch, 74% of which was met by the Government. A significant proportion of that cost was probably absorbed in the expensive business of connecting up to the main drainage in Vale Avenue. This involved tunnelling under the A27. 

Transit pitches to the left; permanent to the right

Permanent pitches and community facilities.

Each permanent pitch consists of space for a static caravan and other vehicles, and an amenity block which includes a kitchen, bathroom and dayroom. The site also includes a management building for the council’s Traveller Liaison Team.

The pitches have all been allocated to Traveller families with a local connection  who will sign a lease, pay rent, council tax and other bills. Many of these previously occupied spaces on the transit site.

Transit pitches

The Council have a legal requirement to provide official sites for Gypsy and Traveller communities. They claim the freed-up transit pitches will help deal with unauthorised encampments in the city, as they can now request the police to use their powers under Section 62a to direct Travellers with the most need onto vacant pitches.

The site has only recently opened, so it is early days, but one wonders if it can possibly have any influence on the large number of summer travellers.  This influx is said to sometimes reach over 100 in number, many in expensive vehicles.  Will they be persuaded to move from free, comfortable, manicured, central parks, or the seafront, to the dull, northern outskirts? Presumably it all depends on the input of our over-stretched police force.

Council gets tough on trailers

Caravans, trailers and other engineless vehicles left stored on roads or pavements in Brighton & Hove could be removed under a new council policy in an attempt to tidy the streets and free up parking spaces.

Kingsway , Hove

It would entail the council invoking already-available powers under the Highways Act 1980.  In a survey 82 per cent of respondents said they support action being taken.

So-called non-motorised vehicles or NMVs are seen as an increasing problem.  Since 2012 the council has dealt with over 400 reports.

Historically the council has only ever removed NMVs using refuse disposal powers.  But this requires them to have been abandoned. Lived-in vehicles are tackled by the council’s travellers team. Until now there has been no policy on vehicles which are neither abandoned nor lived in.

However Section 143 of the Highways Act allows removal of structures from the highway – regardless whether they are owned or abandoned.  Legislation requires the council to issue a notice. After a month the vehicle can be removed.  Costs can be recovered from any identified owner.

Implementing the policy would cost an estimated £5,000 to £10,000 a year.  Costs would be reduced where possible by charging owners for the return of trailers or by selling them.

A report on the matter goes to the environment committee on June 28.

Travellers in Preston Park

A group of about 12 vans and associated vehicles have moved from Hollingbury golf-course  to the north-east corner of Preston Park. Those who adopt this alternative life-style could perhaps be regarded as helping to solve the housing shortage; but the general tax-paying public would look more kindly on them if they were subject to the same laws as everyone else. Needless to say there was not a parking warden in sight.

It is difficult to imagine that completion of the Horsdean site will make much difference. The number of caravans in the city far exceeds the 39 pitches being provided and at a charge of at least £60 a week why would any travellers willingly exile themselves to the city's boundaries when they have become accustomed to using parks and open spaces for free?