Proposal for free parking at Christmas voted down.
Conservative councillors are furious with their Labour and Green counterparts for voting down their proposal to offer residents and visitors to the city free parking over the Christmas period.
Councillor Steve Bell, who proposed the Conservative motion, said:“Brighton & Hove has an unenviable reputation for ripping off motorists and makes the biggest profit from parking charges of any Council outside of London. It really wouldn’t have taken much for the Labour Administration to give this small gesture of seasonal goodwill to our residents, visitors and most importantly, the local businesses who depend so heavily on Christmas trade.”
Cllr Lee Wares
Councillor Lee Wares, who seconded the motion, added:“We have recently learnt that the number of day trippers to the city has fallen by around 1 million. What better way to try and encourage some of these people back than to offer them free parking over the festive season. We were specifically targeting car parks in places such as London Road and Norton Road in Hove, not car parks in the most popular shopping areas in the city centre. Traders in these areas will be especially disappointed with the Labour and Green Parties.”
For those of you that don’t know Carl… he’s the jolly bouncer with the wonderful beard who guards the gates at Revenge and Subline. Well… he’s still wonderful but the beard is now gone!
GScene photographer Jack Lynn caught up with a very clean-shaven and barely recognisable Carl at ‘Shave the Day’ to find out more…
Carl said:“Lee Bone was a much-loved old school friend who had suffered from C.M.T. all his life. He sadly passed away on August 17 to everyone’s shock. A collection was taken at his funeral and a very impressive £600 was raised for C.M.T. United Kingdom, a national charity raising awareness for Charcot Marie Tooth disease, a genetic condition that damages peripheral nerves. Unfortunately I couldn’t afford to donate at the time so decided to have a little fundraiser of my own by shaving off my 4-year-old beard!
“This soon escalated massively and before I knew it, Shave the Day had become a thing! Andrew Roberts kindly arranged for it all to take place at Bar Revenge and on October 16 out came the scissors!
“Alex Baker of Juice 107.2 did a great job hosting the night, and the actual beard trim was happily done by Chyrese Carpenter of Cove Hair. An amazing £618 was donated on the night of the shave, which, added to what I’d already raised through justgiving.com, making an unbelievable total of over £3000!”
Jack Lynn added:“I know well how CMT effects everyday life as I have the condition myself. Debilitating tiredness, aching legs… even uni nights out at Revenge cut short by exhaustion… no carriages at midnight like Cinderella, just wandering home early upset and tired… tissues please!”
Luckily I have the disease in quite a mild form and whilst it does affect daily life there are many CMT sufferers who have it much worse… so please donate to this wonderful cause.
To make a donation to Karl’s fundraising, click here:
…and maybe lend Carl a Winter scarf for his chinny, chin-chin!
Black British LGBT classic film to be screened at Brighton’s Duke of Yorks Picture House in November.
On November 6 2016, Legacy Film will screen The Passion of Remembrance, the 1986 groundbreaking feature film by Isaac Julien and Maureen Blackwood that defined the Black experience in the UK.
Produced by Sankofa, a film cooperative formed in 1983 by black feminist and gay filmmakers, The Passion of Remembrance is a work about racism, sexism, homosexuality, and the generation gap, and their effects on a black British family.
Writer/directors Maureen Blackwood and Isaac Julien also use footage from the inner-city riots that swept Britain in 1981 and shots of gay demonstrations to portray the government’s harsh attitude toward its minorities.
Legacy Film’s programme for November and December also includes further film screenings and art exhibitions in Brighton and Hastings:
Kinny Gardner receives British Empire Medal (BEM) from Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex.
Kinny with his British Empire Medal: Photo by Nic Waller
He received the medal from Mr Peter Field the Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex at a ceremony in the Mayor’s Chamber at Eastbourne Town Hall on Friday, October 21.
The honour was announced in the 2016 Queens Birthday Honours List and awarded to Kinny for his ‘Services to Children’s Theatre and Children with Disabilities’.
Kinny, a self-employed International Showman at Self, hails from Edinburgh. He studied Dance and Choreography at London Contemporary Dance School and lives in Brighton, UK.
Three more drivers have been fined after being caught fraudulently using disabled blue badges.
Disabled Badge Holders Only Sign
The cases were brought before Brighton Magistrates by Brighton & Hove City Council as part of a continuing crackdown on the misuse of disabled blue badges.
Clive Buckley, of Chesham Road, was ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £1,020 after pleading guilty to two counts of Blue Badge Misuse and two counts of making a false statement in appeals against a Parking Contravention Notice.
The court heard that Mr Buckley used his deceased father’s blue badge to avoid parking fees. The Blue Badge team receives information on which badge holders have died every week.
Simon Potel, of Lock hill, Portslade, did not appear at court but was convicted in his absence of one charge of Blue Badge Misuse. He was ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £1,130.
Alan Docherty, of Ambleside Avenue, Telscombe Cliffs, pleaded guilty to one count of Blue Badge Misuse and was ordered to pay fines and costs totalling of £980.
Cllr Gill Mitchell
Cllr Gill Mitchell, chair of Brighton & Hove City Council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee said:“These prosecutions send out a clear message that blue badge misuse is being addressed in the city.
“The blue badge scheme is intended to make sure parking spaces are available for people who genuinely need them.
“We will continue to work with Sussex Police and East Sussex County Council to crackdown on misuse of blue badges and ensure that people with disabilities can get to and enjoy everything Brighton & Hove has to offer.”
Last year, the blue badge crackdown resulted in 81 prosecutions and 230 community resolution orders with warnings being issued to 184 blue badge holders and 41 other drivers.
In 2014, Brighton & Hove City Council were awarded £183,000 of government funding to crack down on misuse of blue badges and free up spaces for disabled people.
Working with Sussex Police and East Sussex County Council, the funding was used to help track down people who are misusing the badges, which are issued to disabled people so that they can park more easily, to raise awareness on how blue badges should be used and the consequences of blue badge fraud. Both councils provided additional funding of £30,000.
Around 13,000 blue badges have been issued in Brighton & Hove and a further 24,000 in East Sussex. The Audit Commission estimates that 20% of blue badges are misused.
Government funding has funded two blue badge fraud investigation officers operating across East Sussex and Brighton & Hove to improve detection and share intelligence.
Miss Jason, the current holder of the Golden Handbag Favourite Drag Entertainer crown has recorded a charity single to benefit Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), the national HIV and sexual health charity.
Hold on to your dreams is an optimistic uptempo euro beat number that would give many recent UK Eurovision Song Contest entries a good run for their money.
The single will be released on iTunes on December 1 to coincide with World Aids Day. Each download costs just 79p and will be donated to THT. Hard copies of the single have been produced and Miss Jason will be selling them at her shows in the coming month up and down the country. The cost is £5 with £4 going to THT.
The single, written and composed by Tony Power of Powerworld Music Production was recorded at Barbican Studios in London.
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