Day: December 4, 2012

Brighton Pavilion MP, Caroline Lucas, together with Brighton & Hove city Councillors Jason Kitcat (council leader) Phélim Mac Cafferty, Lizzie Deane (council deputy leaders) and Councillor Ruth Buckley-Salmon are to visit Downing Street tomorrow,  Wednesday December 5, to present a letter on behalf of the people of Brighton & Hove and Brighton Pavilion to the door of No 11, the residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, The Rt Hon George Osborne MP.

The letter outlines their concerns that the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement  and other government statements on welfare and council support, are unfairly singling out the people of Brighton & Hove for government cuts.

Councillor Jason Kitcat said:

“This government and this Chancellor are doing harm to the residents and businesses of Brighton & Hove, singling us out for cuts two or three times more severe than other south east authorities. They’re also threatening the very existence of local government, with forecasts of cuts so deep that there will be no government funding left for local councils after 2020.”

The letter, signed by the above members of the city’s Green leadership, states:

“Unlike most other local authorities, Brighton & Hove has been singled out for the harshest of cuts. Figures … show that Brighton & Hove has been targeted for the deepest cuts per head of population in the whole of the south east of England, cuts that are between two and three times greater than any other council in the region.”
 
“The people of Brighton & Hove do not deserve the government’s short-sighted, irresponsible and wholly unjust programme of cuts to our city.”
 

Caroline Lucas MP for Brighton Pavilion,  said:

“It is completely unacceptable that the people of Brighton & Hove should have to face such severe government cuts in the name of an austerity programme that is now widely acknowledged to be failing, and that they should be suffering so much more deeply than the rest of the region. We are certainly not all in this together – with Brighton & Hove being hit even harder than our neighbours.”

The MP and Councillors ask the Chancellor to re-appraise the level of cuts being imposed on Brighton & Hove, concluding the letter with:

“We urge you to reconsider the cuts outlined in your Autumn Statement and to think again.”

Following a campaign against this years hike in parking charges which included local political parties, traders residents and the Argus, Brighton & Hove City Council is to fast-track planned amendments to the cost of parking in the London Road Area of the city. Charges will be moved into a new smaller medium tariff zone, where prices will be £2, £4 and £6 for 1, 2 and 4 hours respectively, compared to the current prices of £3.50 for 1 hour, £6 for 2 hours and £10 for 4 hours. This means drivers would be paying only 30p more for 1 hour than in 2011.
 
Cllr Ian Davey, Chair of Transport Committee said:

“Having listened to traders concerns over the past few weeks we are taking action to accelerate the planned re-zoning of the London Road area in order to provide cheaper on-street parking. This was planned to go ahead in April.
 
“We recognise that business in the area has suffered over the past couple of decades and we are listening and taking steps to support local companies, particularly traders. London Road already has excellent public transport links and a car park which costs from £1 for 1 hour on weekdays. With the redevelopment of The Level and the Open Market, we believe that the future of the London Road is very bright indeed and we look forward to working with local traders to make this happen.”

These changes were planned to be part of the current budget setting process which means they would have come into effect in April 2013, subject to the approval of Transport Committee and Full Council. The traffic regulation orders will now be advertised in December. If there are no objections the changes could come into effect early in the New Year.

The new medium tariff zone will run from St Peter’s church to Preston Circus and from the railway line in the West to the Level in the East.  Roads will be included around the Cheapside area (Providence Place, New England Street, London Road, Belmont Street, York Hill, Elder Place, Francis Street, Baker Street, Kingsbury Road, Rose Hill Terrace, Stroudley Road) and roads around The Level (Ditchling Road, Union Road, Lewes Road).

Conservatives on Brighton & Hove City Council welcomed the news and are calling for further reductions in other parts of the city in order to boost the local economy.

Conservative Group Leader, Cllr. Geoffrey Theobald, said:

“I’m glad that the Green Party has finally recognised the serious error they made in hiking these charges in the first place – bowing to the pressure from our campaign and that of local traders in the London Road area. However, I do find it quite astonishing that just last week at the Transport Committee meeting, Cllr. Davey repeatedly stated that the charges could not be reduced because congestion and air pollution needed to be tackled in the London Road area. I wonder what has changed between now and then.”

A few weeks ago the Conservatives submitted a notice of motion to next Thursday’s Full Council meeting calling on the Green Administration to reduce charges right across the city to the levels they were in 2011 (set at the last Budget of the previous Conservative Administration).

Group Transport Spokesman, Cllr. Graham Cox,  added:

“These charges should never have been increased to this level in the first place. The £700,000 shortfall in on-street parking income gives a clear indication that raising charges on this scale is counterproductive and that people are simply choosing to stay away and spend their money elsewhere. I would have liked to see this come a bit earlier so traders could have benefitted in the run up to Christmas. Also, I hope now that the Green Party has the good sense to reduce some of the other charges across the city that have done so much damage to local business.”