As the two ward councillors for West Hill and North Laine, we are delighted to be invited to write a regular column for The Whistler. 

We are representing residents in this area as Green Party opposition councillors, now Labour is the administration running the council. Sue is the opposition spokesperson for Children and Families, as well as a committee member for Planning. Ellen is the opposition spokesperson for Housing, and a co-Chair for the Central Area Housing Panel. We are both are committee members for the People Overview and Scrutiny committee, however our main role is to represent the community of West Hill and North Laine. You can contact us via the council website, just search for Brighton and Hove Contact Your Councillor.

Elected in May 2023, we have been supporting the community with a wide range of local issues, ranging from putting forward a request for a crossing on Buckingham Place, to more bike hangers on Compton Avenue, and steering better communication between Govia Thameslink Railway and CityClean for the clean up of the private land around Brighton Station.

The roads around and nearby Brighton Station have seen a lot of improvement works over the past year. In September, we saw the introduction of a new school streets initiative on St Nicolas Road for St Paul’s School to help children travel to school more safely and reduce traffic issues. As we’ve not received reports since the launch week, we hope that means it is now working for all those who shared initial concerns.

Two junctions along Trafalgar Street were redesigned to improve safety for pedestrians. The closing of the Trafalgar Street/Blackman Street junction was decided following a number of collisions over a three-year period, many involving cyclists. However, we are receiving equally troubling reports about the new junction where Whitecross Street meets Trafalgar Street. We’re engaging with transport officers, and they’re reviewing the situation.

Housing issues make up a lot of our case work, and we’re supporting council tenants and leaseholders in high-rise blocks across the ward to address their need for housing repairs or regarding reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in their blocks. Fire safety is another major concern for these residents and others in the New England Quarter. Following the Grenfell Tower fire, it’s more important than ever for residents have greater transparency on the fire safety of their building. 

Many residents contact us about antisocial behaviour and drugs in our ward – which is a huge challenge for the city. It has been reported that over the past year, the Combatting Drugs Partnership has closed down 38 county lines, which led to 99 arrests and over 8,000 drug seizures and added 80 young people to prevention programmes. These are impressive numbers, but residents still say that drug related ASB is more prevalent than ever. Ellen has been supporting residents badly impacted by this on Zion Gardens. There have been council organised community meetings focused on these issues in other wards. We are asking for one to be hosted in our ward. 

An important part of being a councillor is seeing all sides of a situation. Following reports from the community concerning residents occupying supported accommodation at William Collier House and St Mungo’s, we paid both housing providers a visit. During our time speaking with the housing managers and their residents, we were struck by the incredible work they do. We met some of their success stories – people who have experienced trauma you couldn’t imagine, are now on a journey of recovery, have benefited from training opportunities, and are working to move on into private rental accommodation. Or another resident whose needs were so complex it took the housing team two years to earn his trust. If anything, the visit reinforced the importance of these services for a fair society that gives everyone the opportunity to change, grow and live. 

Many businesses have contacted us about the challenges on New Road relating to anti-social behaviour. Sue represents the council on the Pavilion Trust who have been successful in a bid to improve the gardens which will put new fencing on New Road and the council are looking at a change for the benches. 

We were so sorry to see the loss of a very mature tree on Buckingham Road due to Elms disease – an extremely difficult decision made by the arboriculture team who work hard to conserve the city’s trees. Every summer, the team battle to protect Brighton’s historic collection of beautiful elm trees, and there are two key ways you can support them. Avoid bringing diseased elm wood into the city (that includes logs or timber you might burn). Keep an eye out for elm trees with leaves wilting or turning yellow or brown ahead of autumn (you can report it by emailing elmdisease@brighton-hove.gov.uk with a photo and the tree’s ‘what3words’ location). 

The council’s net zero strategy is hugely important for the city. We hope they will support these efforts with an additional commitment to protecting biodiversity. Protecting the natural world is an important component in achieving net zero. That’s why the reintroduction of glyphosate to the 

city and a recent decision to increase wild verge mowing to six cuts over the summer is concerning.  We are campaigning for an “opt-out” option for neighbourhoods who want to avoid glyphosate being sprayed on their streets. We can support with arranging weed clearing action days for your street. If this would be of interest to you, please reach out.

We are keen to work with the current Labour administration during this challenging economic time. Under the previous administration there was plenty of cross-party collaboration, and it would be great to see that continue in some capacity. We›d like to take this opportunity to respond to misinformation in the previous edition of The Whistler regarding our previous administration, 2020 to 2023. To represent what happened with toilets more accurately, we wanted to share the following timeline – where only one toilet was permanently closed: 

• Early 2020 saw many toilets close in response to the Covid-19 pandemic; these were gradually reopened in the latter part of 2020 / early 2021.

• Norton Road toilets closed permanently in April 2022 due to significant repair issues.

• 11 sites were closed in October 2022 due to financial pressures. These have subsequently reopened, apart from The Level.

• Four sites were closed in autumn 2022 pending refurbishment. These have subsequently reopened. 

We regularly attend community meetings with the London Road Action Team and the North Laine Community Association and would be pleased to meet with residents in the West Hill area as a group and to support the community association. 

We wish you a restful and restorative and a happy 2025.