London Road Area LAT Chair’s Report 7th January 2023
The period referred to is notable for the COVID-19 pandemic, and the lockdown that commenced on March 23rd 2020. After the initial confusion and shock, we began meeting by zoom. Some who normally attend were put off by the zoom format – at least initially, others have come to prefer this format in some ways.
The average attendance has been in the region of 12-20. We are surely grateful to Ward Councillors for their very large measure of support for the meetings. We are also grateful to PCSOs who have nearly always been in attendance when appropriate to the content of the meeting.
This period is also notable for concern and activities in connection with the long-awaited Longley development. This development attracted a very large Section 106 disbursement, allocated under various headings – including Public Art. Very little of this passed without intense, and sometimes heated, discussions.
There was concern about the method, process, fairness, usefulness, sincerity, timing, safeguarding, appropriateness and ultimate application of the Section 106 monies.
We were also concerned that the opportunity to make a critical difference to a neglected and run-down area of London Road would be squandered.
In this connection Nick Hibberd – Executive Director for Economy, Environment & Culture, and Debra May – Principal Planning Officer both attended LAT meetings.
A sub-group was formed to delve specifically into issues around Providence Place/ Elder Place, the “Providence Place Steering Group”. Judi Lynn agreed to take the role as chair and has been wonderfully energetic and enterprising in pursuing this brief (separate report below).
At the time of writing the Art projects are either finished or well on their way, and the way forward for Public Realm improvement is on track via the appointment of a Project Manager as had been promised by BHCC.
Not only has the pandemic significantly affect the LAT in terms of networking, and relationship-building, but also there have been changes in Police hierarchy and we no longer seem to sustain efficient relations with the local Inspector. Also the Council cutbacks have meant that fewer resources are pointed in our direction. The Team from which Simon Bannister previously operated has ceased to exist. The LAT Chairs Forum, run in working partnership with BHCC – which in the past has been a great support – has stuttered in 2022.
Despite these headwinds it seems that the LAT has still got an opportunity to play a unique part in the “common good” of the London Road Area.
Thanks to Vice Chair Lucy Dunleavy, Treasurer Mike Hedgethorne, and Providence Place Steering Group Chair Judi Lynn for all their work and support at various times and in various ways throughout these past three years.
Philip Wells 9th January 2023
LAT meetings that have taken place since the last AGM on 2nd Feb 2020.
| date | Attend -ance | Councillors | police | Topics – cut and pasted from agreed Minutes | |
| 1 | 2020 2 Feb | 6 | AGM | ||
| 2 | 2020 10th March | 14 | 0 | 3 | Stanley Road drug dealing Level liaison group to be set up Graffiti Supporting Open Market Air Quality Reply from Alan Buck 15th Jan (airBnB initiative – from Caroline Lucas) |
| 3 | 2020 21st April | Cancelled due to Covid Lockdown | |||
| 2020 9th June (ZOOM) | 21 | 1 | 2 | Stanley Road, Shaftesbury Road Kingsbury Road – drug deals Francis Street – parking, walking, safety Walking and cycling (Laura Wells) Student accommodation and HMOs Open Market – how can we support Level Liaison – put on hold | |
| 4 | 2020 14th July (ZOOM) | 13 | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | 2020 8th September (ZOOM) | 23 | 0 | 2 | Providence Place – drug use CCTV at Level? London Road – early bin lorries Longley Place – site noise 5-to-8 LONDON ROAD – presentation Licensing – former Maplin, former International Food and Wines (refused) Longley Estate: by email Buck & May positive about LAT involvement |
| 6 | 2020 20th October (ZOOM) | 11 | 1 | 0 – zoom problem | Providence Place – policing issues Cllr West: “money is available, and this needs a planned strategy” Contact sought with Longley Estates LWCIP – consultation 16th Oct Level issues Neighbourhood Action Plan (Hannah Barker will be looking at this) City Plan 2 – comments to be made Oxford Road Gating – 2 gates not needed |
| 7 | 2020 1st December (ZOOM) | 18 | 2 | 2 | Policing. Urination at Providence Place. Level Consideration of blocking road at St Barts (highways) James Watts – lighting, block paving Focus meeting for Prov Place (via Judi) Ask Nick Hibberd to next LAT Thomas Boyle – Longley Place Project manager |
| 1 | 2021 26th January (ZOOM) | 21 | 2 | 0 | Discuss Providence Place Steering Group Nick Hibberd present – agrees the significance of Longley/Prov Place and will bring a timetable March 9th |
| 2 | 2021 9th March ZOOM | 26 | 2 | 0 | Nick Hibberd (with Officer Buck) plan and strategy from BHCC. |
| 3 | 2021 20th April (ZOOM) | 18 | 1 | 1 | Providence Place, Shaftesbury Road, Parking zone J – Catherine Dignan Quiet Down there – presentation Providence Place Steering Group (27/4/21) |
| 4 | 2021 6th July (ZOOM + problem) | 20 Apologies from main speaker Catherine Thomas | 2 | 0 +apologies | Presentation on Art Funding for Longley – speaker gives apologies Lengthy and lively discussion of Section 106 allocation, art component (poem and brickwork), green spaces, etc |
| 5 | 2021 14th September (ZOOM) | Ptolemy Mann presentation of her Project for Brickwork on Longley Place (see Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fe9TufKdTs) | |||
| 6 | 2021 28th September (ZOOM) | “Welcome Back Fund” Debra May – section 106 monies | |||
| 7 | 2021 16th November (in person and by ZOOM) | 13 | 0 | 1 | “welcome back fund” Graffiti trial on London Road Policing report Longley – PPSG. BHCC project manager to be appointed Dec/Jan 2022 Licensing – Richard Grills Student Housing HMO – Cath sent template letter Zone J result = no change |
| PW sabbatical | |||||
| 1 | 2022 25th January (in person and by ZOOM) | 11 | 0 + may join later | 2 | Update from PPSG No BHCC programme manager yet Police report N.B. Longley now up to full height “Welcome back fund” update Level – Open spaces policy (sent to LAT chairs forum for future agenda 27th Jan) |
| 2 | 2022 8th March (in person and by ZOOM) | 14 | 1 | 2 | Brighton Station Art Project introduction (Poppy Heron) Policing – Level open day 14th May Policing Plan for Level – CCTV, lighting, knife crime initiative Graffiti update results: 3 month trial, £42.5K PPSG – “Ideas days”, and feedback forms have been received Ward boundary changes are in prospect |
| 3 | 2022 26th April (in person and by ZOOM) | 10 | 0 | 0 | Brighton Station Art – discussion Martin Dunleavy presents on Police Contact website Comments submitted re Ward Boundary changes Former International food and wines licence was refused |
| 4 | 2022 7th June (in person and by ZOOM) | 12 | 2 | 1 | Brighton Station Art – no news received Level discussion: Mark Syrett has lots of ideas. Policing: no CCTV yet Updates: Ward boundary changes – comments submitted Dominos pizza problems via Manager |
| 2022 19th July | Date didn’t work out | ||||
| 2022 Sept, Oct PW had COVID | |||||
| 5 | 2022 15th November (in person and by ZOOM) | 22 | 2 | 2 | BHCC Programme Manager Thalia Liebig-Wilson, Manager Hazel Buck give presentation about Longley Place Planning Application – Nandos |
| 6 | 2022 6th December (continuation meeting) (in person and by ZOOM) | ? | ? | ? | Continuation of above… City Plan Level issues |
| 1 | 2023 10th January | AGM |
PROVIDENCE PLACE STEERING GROUP
Chair Judi Lynn
Table of meetings 2020-2022
DATE | TOTAL ATTENDANCE | LOCAL COUNCILLORS | POLICE | TOPICS |
Latter part of 2020 | Constant discussions about Providence Place problems – see LAT table. During September/October 2020, Judi had walkabouts with Council officers and discussed graffiti and traffic problems. | |||
1 December 2020 | Refer to LAT table for details. It was decided that a sub-group should be set up to deal with Elder Place/Providence Place, the allocation of available s106 monies/CILs, investment and improvement necessary to deal with the many problems in the area. | |||
26 January 2021 | Refer to LAT table for details. Discussed Providence Place Steering Group. Nick Hibberd (Council Officer) attended. The significance of Longley/Prov Pl was agreed. NH was committed to looking at the strategy and the investments needed. NH agreed to come up with a timetable and bring to next LAT meeting on 9 March 2021. |
1) FIRST PPSG MEETING 17 February 2021 (via Zoom) | 14 | 2 | 0 | Name of Group agreed. Exact area agreed as Elder Place/Providence Place/ back of London Road as far as the rear of Aldi (St Peter’s Street). Details were given of the s106 agreements and CILS from the local developments (attached to the Agenda) showing the money available for enhancing the area Nick Hibberd’s (Council’s Executive Director – Economy, Environment and Culture Services), comment at the last LAT meeting was mentioned – that matters should be considered “from the bottom up”. In view of this, the PPSG wanted to be responsibly involved in genuine partnership with the Council to achieve these needs. Bearing in mind there was a significant budget, discussions followed – 5 key areas (but not a finite list): – Enhancement of the public realm – Traffic Calming – Pedestrianisation – Cycling – Trees Discussions began with ideas such as an extension of block paving, cycle stores, graffiti removal, trees, how to change certain spaces etc. The meeting agreed that we would wait to see the results of Nick Hibberd’s report back to the LAT on 9 March before making a date for the next PPSG meeting. |
2) 27 April 2021 (zoom) | 11 (9 apologies) | 0 | 0 | Discussion about Council appointing a Project Manager and their specific role. Still awaiting an update from Nick Hibberd. Discussed traffic flow; car park problems; developer of 5-8 London Rd gave update on the development and offered support; agreed to invite all locals to take part in discussions and give their ideas; talked about how to engage with the community and mentioned making a Facebook page and promoting the group on the LAT Facebook page. Next meeting to take place one week after the next LAT meeting. |
3) 8 June 2021 (zoom) | 16 (3 apologies) | 1 | 4 | Still awaiting update from Nick Hibberd. Use of Facebook had been expanded to groups that could be affected by regeneration of the area. As the Divisional Commander was present, there was much discussion re antisocial behaviour and crime and reporting difficulties. Discussion about how to “design out crime” , use of CCTV; it was agreed police reps would be very welcome at all meetings. Contact had been made with businesses, St Barts primary school and local residents in the area as well as meetings with people who had successfully led projects in other parts of Brighton to clean up their areas. Talked about a “holistic” approach to any regeneration and how to improve Providence Place Gardens. Ideas were put forward for a large map to be displayed in St Barts Church where people could put their ideas and views on the area. During the meeting Cllr Pete West heard from Nick Hibberd talking about the timing for appointing a Project Manager. That led to a discussion about funding flowing from developers to the Council. It was felt we should now be given a timetable and commitments as to how and when funds would be spent as one of the fundamental reasons for the group being formed was to find out exactly how and when the monies would be used. |
4) 13 July 2021 (zoom) | 13 (4 apologies) | 1 | 3 | Update on other recent s106 agreements in the wider area with the amounts of money and how they were allocated. Discussion about Alan Buck’s draft brief of 22.6.2021 for a “Programme Manager” with particular attention to what was their exact role, financial details and timescale. It was also mentioned that we already had good contact with other Council Officers. After lengthy discussion, agreed to invite head of planning to the next LAT meeting to talk about s106/CIL funding and explain the planning process for developments. It was agreed there were 2 strands; one was the reaction to the Brief for Project Manager and the other was about the to-do list of things the Group would like to be changed and what was wanted. Discussed the difficulties in engaging the community. It was decided a list of proposals that we could show to them and get comments. |
5) 7 September 2021 (zoom) | 13 (4 apologies) | 1 | 3 | Update on policing and difficulty in reporting. Talked about the Longley Place development and “art” contribution of £83k. As no Project Manager had been appointed, it was agreed a proper plan needed to be worked on and there was talk of holding an Open Day and drafting a questionnaire. |
6) 5 October 2021 (zoom) | 8 (4 apologies) | 1 | 1 | Police update. Discussion about whether to continue meetings on zoom or in person – but as a working group, zoom seemed a better option. Discussed LAT presentation on Longley Place “art”. Important parts of Head of Planning at Council’s talk to the LAT were reiterated regarding s106/CILs monies. A map would be made showing the whole area divided into 5: Area 1 = Longley Place; Area 2 = New England House; Area 3 = London Road car park; Area 4 = from the car park to Ann Street and Area 5 = Providence Place Gardens to the rear of Aldi. Talked in detail about holding an Open Day – the idea being to have visualisations and get people’s ideas and comments before a Project Manager was appointed so that the Group had something concrete to show them. An email would be sent to arrange a face-to-face meeting to discuss details further. |
7) 9 November 2021 (zoom) | 7 (5 apologies) | 1 | 1 | Police update. Still concern over people not reporting including over illegal e-bikes and the need for better communication between the police and public. The “Welcome Back Fund” for Ann Street. Longley developers did not wish to be further involved until a Project Manager was appointed. More detailed discussions about preparing maps etc for a future Open Day. Agreed to hold a smaller face-to-face meeting at St Barts Church on 23 November 2021 to start putting ideas on a big map. Talked about continuing graffiti problems and new Council lead. |
8) 1st “Map” meeting 23 November 2021 (At St Barts Church) | 13 (3 apologies) | 0 | 0 | Very large map provided by McLaren laid out and post-it notes put on it with ideas. |
9) 2nd “Map” meeting 11 January 2022 (At St Barts Church) | 9 | 0 | 0 | Continued adding comments to large map. |
10) 1 February 2022 | 10 (4 apologies) | 1 | 1 | Police update. Updates on the 23 “map meetings” and detailed discussions about holding 2 “Ideas Days” at St Barts Church – publicity, flyers, questionnaire and materials including the map with comments. |
11) 22 February 2022 (St Barts Church) | On site brief meeting to decide on displays etc. for the “Ideas Days” to be held on 22 & 26 February 2022 | |||
12) & 13) 22 & 26 February 2022 | Ideas Days at St Barts Church |
Note:
* 18 July 2022: Thalia Liebig-Wilkinson is appointed Project Manager.
* Since then, have come back under the “umbrella” of the LAT and have had a couple of face-to-face exploratory meetings with the Project Manager and her boss.
Send details of all LAT meetings to everyone in the Steering Group.
London Road Area Local Action Team 