Road casualities decrease in Brighton and Hove - Greens claim credit for their sustainable transport policies - total road deaths and collisions down but cycle casualties increase

30.11.2013. Brighton and Hove City Council and the city's Green Party trumpeted a reduction in the total number of reported injuries on the cities roads, following data released in November 2013.

Council data showed 978 people killed or injured in Brighton and Hove in 2012, down from 1,106 (2011) and 1,110 (2010). Numbers killed (5) or seriously injured (155) also fell, as did number of collisions (789, down from 893). 

The Green Party, which is in control of the city, said the drop was due to its policies, which are designed to encourage sustainable transport - ie a 'modal shift' away from private motor cars and toward public transport, cycling and walking.

The council published detailed breakdowns of the statistics that showed the overall drop in casualties. The publication of detailed casualty data by the council is a new development. These data also show breakdowns for 'vulnerable groups'. Among these, there has been a slight increase in causalities among cyclists. In 2012, 161 cyclists were injured, up from 157 the previous year. There were no cyclist fatalities. This might be presumed due to an increase in cyclists using the roads. Data is detailed in links given at the end of this article.

Parking review to keep roads and bus lanes moving will start immediately in Brighton and Hove - as Lewes Road consultation gets underway

Buses manoeuvre around parked cars on Lewes Road above The Level - Google

Friday, 10 November 2011. A review of car parking in Brighton and Hove, aimed at improving traffic flow, will start immediately in some parts of the city, according to an announcement by the city council yesterday.

The announcement said: "The citywide parking review will aim to improve service for all."

Councillor Ian Davey, cabinet member for transport and the public realm, said: "We also have to strike a balance between competing interests so that parking management is fair and achieves our aims of reducing congestion, maintaining safe access, and keeping the city moving on our roads and bus lanes."

Cllr Davey is a member of the Green Party who lead council and who have a manifesto commitment to promoting sustainable transport.

Also today, a public consultation - about the traffic clogged and polluted Lewes Road - got under way. Although not specifically included in the parking review, of the items on this agenda will be parked cars clogging up the Lewes road and slowing traffic flow for all road users.

The decision to start the parking review immediately was taken at a special meeting of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Cabinet (Wednesday, 9 November). The original decision was 'called in' by the Environment & Community Safety Overview & Scrutiny Committee with a request to reconsider reviews of parking schemes separately from a citywide parking review. The committee also asked that the cabinet look at bringing forward a review of parking in the Wish area of Hove.

At today's meeting, councillor Davey agreed to review the timetable and resources for work on residents' parking to see whether this could be accelerated and begin consultation on the following four residents' parking schemes:
Richmond Heights (Area C extension)
Canning Street (Area H extension)
London Road (Area J extension north of the railway line and Round Hill area)
Preston Park (Area A northern extension)

Councillor Ian Davey said: "These schemes have been selected as the most pressing from information provided by ward councillors and residents. They are also the most urgent in terms of road safety, with high levels of congestion and double parking.

"Parking is a complex issue for the city. I have taken on board the views expressed by the scrutiny committee and representations from residents and ward councillors.

"Rather than waiting for the outcome of the citywide parking review, I have decided to take action now to progress urgent work on residents' parking. Work on these schemes is not incompatible with the citywide review as one will inform the other."

Proposals for other resident's parking schemes will be taken into account as part of the citywide parking review. The review will take a year to complete, with a commitment to provide an update within six months.

Residents and businesses from across the city will have the opportunity to take part in the review and their input will shape the future of the city's parking service.

The review will cover public on and off-street parking. It will investigate long term parking issues and how the council should consult in the future, as well as looking at the best practice of other councils.

Councillor Davey said: "It is important that any consultation is meaningful and that we give residents and businesses the opportunity to help shape the future of parking management. We want to know what's working well and what doesn't work.

"The review will involve cross-party contributions through the scrutiny process and we'll be directly consulting residents groups and organisations such as the police and fire service. All the information provided will be invaluable to achieving the best outcome for the city.

"We also have to strike a balance between competing interests so that parking management is fair and achieves our aims of reducing congestion, maintaining safe access, and keeping the city moving on our roads and bus lanes."

There will be various ways the public can take part, via the website, and through a survey to be sent to 6,000 random addresses across the city.

Once residents, businesses, councillors and organisations have had the opportunity to shape the content of the review, public consultation will take place in the spring of next year.
Related information

Read the report discussed at the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Cabinet Members Meeting

Find out more about parking in Brighton & Hove

Plan your journey

Revolutionaries take over traffic island in Brighton

25 May 2011. A group calling themselves the "Spanish Revolution" have occupied the traffic island known as the Old Steine in central Brighton and Hove.

The group says on its website that it will deliver "real democracy" and a demonstration to "take over the streets" on 4 June. It says it is run by an "Assembly" and that it will hold meetings daily at its "camp" on the Old Steine. Other activities include yoga, belly dancing and capoeira.

Spanish Revolution website says: "We are individuals who have come together freely and voluntarily. Each of us has decided, after the concentrations on Sunday, May 15, that we are determined to continue fighting for dignity and political and social awareness."

Link to the website is given below.

The Green-led council has engaged with the Spanish Revolutionaries. Councillor Ben Duncan, Cabinet Member for Communities, Equalities and Public Protection, said: “I have spoken with members of the group and received assurances that any activity associated with their protest will be peaceful, lawful and transparent.

“The Old Steine isn’t just a public space in the city centre it’s the heart of a residential area so I am glad the protestors have liaised with the police and asked all supporters to recognise the need to respect the neighbourhood in which their encampment falls.

“In these respects the encampment is a model of the kind of engaged, peaceful protest the council and police are committed to facilitating, but of course we will be watching closely to see if this changes in the future.”

Valley Garden Project
Sustainable Transport-related background information: The Old Steine is a series of large grassy traffic islands surrounded by dual carriageway traffic in the center of Brighton. Until recent times, this area was a social centre of the town, but road developments cut the parks off from the town and surrounded them by hectic traffic. In 2000, the city made plans to reverse this domination by the car. The Core Strategy included plan to redirect traffic, and make a big park connecting the traffic islands and the Pavilion/N Laine areas. This Valley Gardens Park Project was going to create a park in the city center, reclaiming it from cars in favour of people, but these plans were squashed by Tory admin last year. The local Green Party has made it part of their manifesto to revive a city centre park project.

Spanish Revoluiton
http://spanishrevolutionbrighton.wordpress.com/

Brighton and Hove Green manifesto at
http://www.brightonhovegreens.org/

Greens now biggest party on Brighton and Hove City Council after elections today

Greens are now the largest party on Brighton & Hove City Council after election results today. This is the first time a local council in the UK has elected the Greens as the largest party.

People voted Green across Brighton & Hove. Greens held all their seats and gained 10 more for a total of 23 Green councillors, making them the largest group of on the council, and the largest Green group of councillors in the country.

It’s a huge vote of confidence in the Greens. Green convenor Bill Randall said, “The the city has listened to the Greens and we have listened to the city. Greens will now sit down and plan how to take the city forward in these difficult times."

Bill Randall said: “The next step is for us to talk to other parties about how we will work with them and implement our manifesto pledges at a very challenging time for local government budgets."

Key Green wins included:
• Goldsmid returned three Greens, winning one seat each from Labour and Conservatives. Alex Phillips, Ruth Buckley and Rob Jarret were elected.
• Brunswick & Adelaide returned two Greens. It was previously LibDem stronghold
• Queens Park returned three Greens, despite determined efforts by Labour to win back the three seats they lost in 2007.
• Regency returned two Greens - up by one.
• Hollindean And Stanmer had three labour councillors - now they have one. The other two seats were taken by Green candidates Sven Rufus and Christina Summers.
• Conservatives lost another seat to Greens in Central Hove.

• Safe Green Wards St Peters & N Laine, and Preston Park returned three Greens each.

I spent an exciting day at Hove Town Hall watching the vote being counted. Here is my video of council leader Bill Randall after the results were announced.


For full results see the Council Website
http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/index.cfm?request=c1244854

A Fresh Start for a Fair City

Green Party candidates for local elections at Manifesto launch

18 March 2010. The Green Party launched its bid to become the UK's first Green led council in the UK in local elections in Brighton and Hove on 5 May. Offering a list of thirteen priorities over the next four years, the manifesto is headed by a pledge to resist the service cuts and privatisation imposed by the Conservative and Lib Dem Government.

I designed the Manifesto document, drafted the press release and photographed the event.

The manifesto 'Fresh Start for a Fair City' is available as a PDF file: here

It says, "In May 2011 we have the opportunity to win more seats and maybe even lead the council."

"In these difficult circumstances Green councillors will do their very best for the city," says Green Party Convenor Councillor Bill Randall.

"We can't stop the cuts made at source by the Coalition, but we will fight them all the way, oppose any attempt to further privatise local services and tackle the inequalities that tarnish this city. "

"We realise many of our Manifesto plans cannot be implemented immediately because the city is starved of cash. But we will not abandon our aspirations, because they offer practical solutions to the challenges the city faces.

"Only Greens are committed to open book working with other political parties, the trade unions, third sector and voluntary organisations and residents to meet the challenges ahead. (more>>>)

Leader of the Greens calls for safer roads after claims council was waiting for higher casualities

On Friday 18 March 2011, the leader of the UK Green Party Caroline Lucas joined a protest staged by group of parents and school children, calling for safer crossings on the busy Surrenden Road in Brighton. Shockingly, protest organiser Fiona McWilliam said a councillor had told her that council policy was to wait until there were sufficient causalities.

I made this video of the event.


Green Party Leader Caroline Lucas is also MP for Brighton Pavilion and resident in the ward. She said Green Councillor Amy Kennedy had been campaigning for a crossing for years.

Caroline Lucas said: "We need a crossing here urgently beause literally thousands of children are trying to get to the schools here. You can just see as you stand here it's an absolute nightmare. Parents would dearly love to send their kids to school by walking but they're afraid to. You really take your life in your hands if you cross this road. No change from the council, we've been pressing for a 20mph limit, still no action from the council. That's why we really do need to change the council in May, make sure there's more Greens in it."

Over 30 parents, children and Green Party campaigners staged the protest. Originally the plan had been to levy a voluntary toll on motorists, but organiser Fiona McWilliam said she had decided that was too dangerous. They contented themselves with waving placards instead. Many of the motorists hooted their support.

Mother of five Fiona McWilliams said "we literally take our lives in our hands every morning". She has written numerous letters to the council, and had a letter from one of the councillors who said council policy was to wait until there had been several accidents, but that she had recent news the council has now changed their policy assess the risk to children.

Transport spokesman for the Brighton and Hove Green Party Ian Davey said: "Residents are calling for a 20mph speed limit and introduction for a safer crossing. We're calling for something to be done now."

Safe School Crossings protest for Surrenden Road on Red Nose Day

View looking along Surrenden Road toward Draxmont Way

15 March 2011. Worried parents and campaigners will levy a “voluntary toll” on traffic using Surrenden Road on Friday, as Brighton & Hove Green Party calls for safer roads.

Safer Surrenden campaigners will levy the toll on one of Brighton and Hove's busiest roads as a combined protest and Red Nose Day stunt. They will set up a temporary safe crossing for school children at the junction of Surrenden Crescent and Draxmont Way between 8.20 and 8.40am, Friday 18th March 2011.

Fiona McWilliam, newly appointed organiser of the Safer Surrenden campaign said: “At least four children have been hit by vehicles over the past year. Worried parents are hijacking Red Nose Day to highlight the potential danger to children posed by Brighton and Hove Council's reluctance to reduce the 30mph speed limit or install fixed crossings on Surrenden Road. Several of the hundreds of parents and children who struggle to cross this busy road every day will ask fellow residents to pay a voluntary toll at the hazardous junction with Surrenden Crescent and Draxmont Way.”

The nearby Balfour-Varndean-Dorothy Stringer campus is home to four schools, a playgroup and a sixth-form college.

Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, Caroline Lucas, said: “The Safer Surrenden campaign is three years old. Children from six schools nearby cross Surrenden Road. There have been too many recent accidents involving personal injury in the road. It needs safe crossings at a suitable distance from the dangerous bend in the road near Draxmont way (Dorothy Stringer school and Varndean college), and at the Harrington Rd to Bates Rd crossing of Surrenden. The council has blocked attempts by myself and Councillor Amy Kennedy to get a crossing near Dorothy Stringer. (more>>>)

Green alternative budget proposes cutting jobs of top council executives

The Green Party proposes an alternative budget "to reverse cuts, save jobs and introduce sustainable ways of funding the council". One of the funding proposals is to cut top jobs at top level of the council.

Yesterday, Green councillors were blocked from a radical proposal that "the council's four strategic directors, who earn approximately £125,000 each, be removed in favour of increased funding for the Connexions youth careers and advice service which has been subject to major cuts".

Green finance spokesperson Cllr Jason Kitcat said: "However skilled these strategic directors are, they're an expensive layer of management that the council simply cannot afford in the face of the unprecedented cuts the Conservative-led government is imposing on us. We are deeply disappointed we have been blocked by the Tory administration and senior officers from even discussing this proposal. This unwelcome move by the Tories and their appointed, unaccountable bureaucrats makes a mockery of local democracy."

"Our alternative budget would make council spending fairer, reduce the impact of the cuts and improve our position for future years. The Tories nationally are cutting our funding to the bone, while locally they are spending everything they've got in a desperate attempt to win over the electorate this May," said Jason.

"We are doing everything we legally can to minimise harm, set the groundwork for positive future projects and protect public services while voicing our anger at this Conservative-Lib Dem government's callous cuts."

Key items in it include:
* £924,000 of recurring funding being put back into services for Children, Young People & Families including Educational Psychologists and the Connexions careers & advice service.
* £500,000 to kick-start investment in solar panels for council homes and offices, which would create free electricity for tenants and new revenue through the ‘Feed in Tariff' for renewable energy generation.
* £450,000 for a new reserve to deal with the risks of the major changes proposed to services for Adult Social Care and Children, Young People & Families.
* £40,000 to pilot a residential food waste collection scheme.
* £25,000 to fund extra noise patrol shifts in the city.
* £15,000 more in grants to voluntary organisations in the city.
* £26,000 saved from removing catering for meetings councillors attend and £18,000 saved by reforming the system of councillor allowances.

The full Green Alternative Budget can be viewed online at: http://bit.ly/greenbudget

The Drive cycle lane protest picks up speed

Councillor Ian Davey leads the protest ride

19 February 2011. Cyclists braved rainy weather today to protest against the planned scrapping of the flagship “Cycle City” protected cycle lane along The Drive in Hove.

The plans to scrap the cycle lane, at a cost of £1.1m, were revealed in Brighton and Hove City Council’s budget proposals, made public last week. The plans have provoked protests from across the country, including from Sustrans, the charity that promotes sustainable travel in the UK.

Despite the dismal weather around thirty cyclists gathered at the corner of The Drive and Cromwell Road in Hove at noon. Councillor Ian Davey, Green Party spokesperson for Transport led the group on a cycle ride down the threatened cycle lane to the King’s House council offices.

Councillor Davey said: “I’m so pleased so many people came out in the rain at such short notice. This is just the start of this protest. The Conservative administration led by Councillor Mary Mears will have to withdraw this proposal if they want get their budget passed by the council. We have every hope that Labour will vote with the Greens to overturn this budget when it comes before council for approval on 3 March.”

The Conservatives have minority control of Brighton and Hove City Council and suffered a previous defeat in full council at the hands of Green and Labour councillors.

Tony Green, membership secretary of cycle campaign group Bricycles, was at the protest. He said: This cycle lane was part of a scheme to provide safe cycle routes across the city. The Drive was to link the seafront with Hove Rec and Hangleton and ultimately it was to improve access to the South Downs, which is now become a national park. That linkage was never completed.”

Mr Green said: “There have been questions about whether these lanes cause safety problems for cars trying to access driveways. If these are genuine concerns, let them be addressed. Don’t just remove the lanes.”

On Wednesday 16 February, Brighton’s Argus newspaper published data it obtained under the Freedom of Information Act that revealed both numbers of accidents and reported people injured have dropped by 20% since The Drive cycle lane was installed in 2008. Specifically: “Between 2005 and 2007 there were a total of 41 accidents and 52 casualties along the entire stretch. Between 2008 and 2010 this dropped to 32 accidents and 42 casualties”.

Alex Phillips is Green Party Councillor for Goldsmid in Hove

The Drive runs through Goldsmid, whose councillor, Alex Phillips, won the ward for the Green Party at a by-election in 2009. She was at the protest collecting signatures for a petition to save the cycle lane. She said: “At a time of cuts to frontline services, leaving vulnerable people to fend for themselves, it’s not right that money is used to get rid of this important and well-used cycle lane.

“We launched the petition a few days ago, aiming to get a full council debate on the subject. Already we have 1,200 signatures, many online. Brighton’s status as a city of sustainable transport is of national interest, ”she added.

Brighton & Hove council’s transport team picked up the Transport Authority of the Year award at the National Transport Awards in Manchester on 15 July last year. It was commended for cycling improvements that saw cycling in the city increase by 27% since 2006.

Councillor Davey said: “If they go ahead with spending a million pounds scrapping this cycle lane it will be the transport laughing stock of the year and it will be bottom of the class for cycling.”

The 2011 budget proposals, released Friday 11 Feb, revealed the plans to remove the cycle lanes. The reason cited was to “improve the visual impact and traffic flow along this important north – south corridor including access to the A27/A23 from the A259/Shoreham Harbour".

Councillor Davey said: “I wonder if Councillor Mears has consulted local residents about whether they will welcome this road becoming an artery for heavy vehicles on their way to Shoreham Harbour.”

Councillor Davey asked those who support the campaign to sign the petition at http://www.gopetition.com/petition/43064.html .