Work has started to restore and improve the Rose and Coronation Gardens in Preston Park, in a bid to have them looking blooming lovely by the summer! The improvements are being made as part of the Preston Park Conservation Management Plan, developed by consultants, in partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council’s Cityparks team and the Friends of Preston Park.
Gritter Garbo, Melton John, Alexander the Grit, Warren the Great and the Brighton Belle are ready and waiting to hit the city’s roads this winter. The aptly named council gritting machines are already on high alert to tackle any freezing conditions that may sweep across Brighton & Hove during the coming months.
Residents and tourists who use the city’s toilets will find they are the cleanest ever. An annual audit by the national, independent Loo of the Year Awards (LOYA) organisation has graded the toilets the highest ever, with four sites receiving an improved grading on last year.
From fence laying to hedgerow cutting, rangers from Brighton & Hove City Council’s countryside team have been working with a team from Kent, Surrey and Sussex Community Rehabilitation Company (KSS CRC) to improve the city’s parks and open spaces.
New signs advising drivers to switch off their engines while stationary, are being installed in the city this week. Around 35 ‘Cut engine – Cut pollution’ signs are being fixed around Brighton & Hove’s Air Quality Management Areas – mainly in the city centre but also outside the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Rottingdean and South Portslade.
Brighton & Hove City Council is one of the most active in the country for tackling flytipping. In figures collected by the Press Association, Brighton & Hove issued 276 fines to flytippers in the 12 months to May 2017, the fifth highest in the country. The council’s updated figures show that 618 fines have been issued to date compared with 196 last financial year.
Recycling rates in Brighton & Hove are improving thanks to initiatives such as new wheeled bins for recycling, garden waste collections and recycling street sweepings. Rates in the city have increased to just over 29% from 26.7% last year.
Brighton & Hove City Council has agreed to protect the city’s entire supported bus network (19 routes) for the next four years with £150,000 additional investment.
Herbaceous borders in the Rose Garden at Preston Park will bloom beautifully next summer after winning a public vote for their restoration. Residents were asked to choose between two potential projects after Brighton & Hove City Council secured around £150,000 funding from car parking fees and local developers to be spent in Preston Park.
A flytipper from Brighton has received a suspended jail sentence, a fine and been ordered to do community work after dumping piles of rubbish in the city. Charles ‘Charlie’ Brazil of Ridge View, Coldean pleaded guilty at Brighton Magistrates court on August 2 to flytipping near the Lewes Road rail viaduct last April. The rubbish included laminate flooring, chipboard underlay and black sacks of waste.
