London Road LAT minutes 10th October 2017

London Road LAT Minutes from 10th October 2017

1. Welcome, introductions and apologies (N.B. apologies already received from our Councillors) due to clashes

– Simon Banister,  Councillors, Richard Grills (Presuming Ed),  Sandy Crowhurst (North Laine Community Assoc) – at Brighton Society Committee,  Lucy Walker UOS,  Tony Firmin, Mike Hedgethorne, -Katie Blood – St Barts school

Present: Kristina- Equinox, Penny Morley, Cath Prenton, Andy Keeffe, Richard Baraball,  Mark de Boissiere, Lucy Dunleavy,  Sabina Page,  Corinne Lamb, Philip Wells (Chair), Alan Briggenshaw (11)

2. Minutes of last meeting and date of next meeting – November 14th.

  • Minutes are now posted
    November 14th to be the AGM, then12th December, and thereafter on second Tuesday of the month unless anounced otherwise.

3. Policing and Licensing

(a) community safety

  • a policing update was requested the following was received:

Dear Philip,

Thank you for your email which has been passed to me to reply to.

We have not had many reports of issues in Oxford Street of late but I note your concerns. If you could let me have more specific detail of times ,days of the week and descriptions of those involved then I can allocate resources to try and combat the issues as appropriate.

I cannot find any details of a shopkeeper being assaulted on 4th October. Would you happen to know which shop it was ?

The CCTV camera has not yet been fitted in the Level due to the pole to mount the camera on not yet being placed by the Council and that, currently, we have no one to set the camera up. I am hoping this will be done over the next couple of months.

Regards, PS CD860 DURRANT, CENTRAL BRIGHTON NPT


  • The below email correspondence were read out and discussed to do with the local crime issues:

Dear [Councillor West]

I am hoping that you will be able to put some pressure on the police or Parks dept to try and clear up the Level. I live on the corner of Ditchling & Union roads. I have become increasingly aware that certain groups of individuals are again congregating on and around the Level park (northern end).  I am not sure why this is happening again – have they been moved off the ground around St Peter’s Church ? Some of them are also pitching tents – Is this permitted?

They are seen to be drinking at most times of the day & have quite unpleasant dogs. This is quite intimidating to us residents.

I had been led to believe that the Level was an Alcohol free zone. Can you confirm this and if so who is enforcing this zone?

The skate park is also becoming quite a mess. Early every morning the conscientious park cleaners have to clean up such a quantity of rubbish, glass bottles & cans etc. Again surely some policing would make this is a much better environment for children and not just adult men.

It would be good if the Level could again be returned to a clean and safe environment that can be used by families. At the moment I suspect most people steer clear of it.

[end of extract]

– Comment: Due to loss of PCSOs there has been a rise in crime,

  • Question: is there not a CCTV in the park already

  • Reports were mentioned of:

    • a stabbing at KFC (in September)

    • a stabbing in the buttocks in recent days (see Argus)

    • an incident with a machete at the Level

    • ongoing drug-dealing

  • It was said that the police response is not an adequate response, and it was stated that the Council CEO had written to Katy Bourne to express this complaint –

  • * Phil to write to Kate Bourne with concerns

  • Kristina from Equinox brought up what they are doing across the city to try and tackle this:

    • There are 10 hot spots in the area.

    • Concerns that have been emailed into them are brought to the communication team through (Siobhan Botstock) who collates raises the issues in weekly and monthly meetings with the safety team. The outcomes from the action days are also discussed and discussed on where to go next.

    • *Kristina to forward Philip the email

    • Action days,-they go directly to encampments, drug spots etc every Thursday morning 7-12 where the police accompany Equinox.

    • Once a week is not enough, they are targeting the worst areas, the police don’t get involved until very serious, its not just Brighton its gangs coming from LONDON.

    • The next place they are going to is Queens Park

    • They now have to change the day as to not become known by the people in every area they visit, as to stay covert.

    • Equinox now have two teams and the police to help.

    • Lisa Bell (communications team) would like 2 meetings a week but are stretched

    • There are currently two Outreach workers that need residents to tell them where to go and where the problem areas are.

    • They are trying to get Pavilions involved in a campaign on drug litter. The aim is to try to make them feel responsible this has been tried in other places, it feels like a losing battle at present.

    • 101 police phone number: there is a threshold that the police hold that means when the police get a certain number of calls they stop looking and deal with the calls, which means the fresh report needs to be made every time as the police will not deal with it if it has the same reference number as the last call.

  • Also:

    • There have been a stabbing incident in London Road (see above)

    • We are alarmed, disappointed, apparently “losing the battle”, should write to the PCC and see if we can get these issues in the Argus.

    • Graffiti flagged up by Lawrence Norton. He was invited to this meeting

(b) Licensing –

i. International Food and Wines – Preston Road

the following received from David Bateup, formerly of Brighton and Hove Police Licensing department

You may be interested to know as it is almost on your doorstep that Sussex Police (with supporting reps from Trading Standards) are taking: International Food & Wine, 17 Preston Road to a licensing review asking for revocation of the premises licence.

The papers were received at the council last Friday so the 28 consultation period is just starting.

Unsure on why, watch this space,

*Phil to find out more

ii. Marvan’s newsagent – Beaconsfield Road

Hours for sale of alcohol 0600-2300. Discussion , these hours seemed rather excessive and we wondered about any displacement effect caused if International Food and Wines lost its licence.

*Phil to find out more

4. Business Improvement District – progress report

  • A meeting was held last Thursday 5th October – only 1 local trader attended.

  • There is money left over which must be held untouched until a certain time but apart from that there is no money left

  • BID: is a scheme whereby local businesses vote and if the vote is carried they all contribute to this fund via Business rates, and traders decide on how best to use funds.

5. Update on Oxford Street

– funding will be a key part of the solution

The community safety survey carried out in august plus responses which have been received from Sussex Police and council departments suggest that a Pubic Space Protection Order (PSPO) which would enable the alleyway behind the Bat & Ball to be gated would be a helpful intervention in terms of reducing street fouling, drug dealing and other antisocial and criminal activities currently taking place on Oxford Street, in the alleyway and in the Carpark.

The next step is to put together a proposal based on findings so far and present it to the council Environment Transport & Sustainability Committee requesting consent to run a statutory consultation, and I am hoping to put this to the ETS meeting in January. If this takes place and is accepted by the committee, the consultation would run over February, and depending upon comments received the PSPO could be implemented shortly thereafter.

Anyone wishing to comment on the proposal at the moment is welcome to complete the online form - still on the LAT website, or contact me directly, and if we move to a statutory consultation, there will be further opportunities to comment on the final proposal before anything is implemented.

There needs to be funding for the gate, through a community Bank Account, could this be LAT.

6. Update on Viaduct Road communal bins etc.

  • This issue was agreed to and started in august still no reply from City Clean, reply still pending


7. Newsletter progress
Email from Tony F:

At the meeting, Lucy used my list of streets in our Area, and allocated each street to a member present, and this sheet also contains the number of leaflets required as I personally visited every street and determined the number of properties. Email addresses are presumably held of those members, so they can be contacted relatively easily. 

If you need help counting out the leaflets then I am quite willing once back.  Any surplus could be posted back through the church door and e-mail could be used for arranging to collect more.

  • If the final newsletter could be ready by the next meeting, then November would be when it would go out.

  • Asked UOS if they could get this to their students, this could idea has potential- Andrew Keeffe will investigate with his manager


8. Any other business

  • Older Peoples festival has happened in the Open Market towards the end of September

  • There is a photography event in Open Market

  • Outside cafe Plenty will be finished apparently by summer next year

  • The development of the Emporium is still looking for a new tenant and now is attracting the wrong people and the alley way is being used for unwanted behaviour.

Meeting finished at around 19:30