Review of 2008

Looking back over the year there is plenty in my ward to reflect on. Some of it good, some of it tragic, some of it far from concluded.

I'm pleased that crime and anti-social behaviour in Whitehawk continues to fall, with some welcome good news at this week's Crime Prevention Forum of a dealer's house being shut down and of the area getting a dedicated police sergeant. Low points must be the tragic murder of a Maresfield Road resident and the awful crash on Wilson Avenue which claimed a life and devastated so many more early in the year. I hope 2009 does not bring with it any similar incidents.

There are three big issues which will return in 2009. This week the city council secured funding to go ahead with its' proposals for a traveller site in Sheepcote Valley. A planning application is expected in the early Spring, and I will continue to support residents and users of the Valley in opposing a good project on the wrong site; too contaminated and too close to housing.

The second is the next phase of development at the Royal Sussex County Hospital. My request to the NHS Trust for the liaison meetings with local residents to be resumed has sadly not brough a response - yet.

Thirdly, and much in the news over recent days, has been the proposed development of the inner Marina. Whilst not in my ward, the proposals did cause many Kemp Town residents great concerns over loss of sea views. Like the outer Marina proposals in 2007, the suitability of the site, the pressure on ameneties and the scale of the developments has to be weighed against the creation of jobs and homes, the benefits to the surrounding areas and the boost large projects such as this give to the local economy in difficult times. It remains to be seen if and when the proposals return following the vote to refuse at Planning Committee.

I'm pleased 2008 - indeed this week - saw work begin at last on the new stadium at Falmer. It will bring jobs, a new college site and of course a permanent home for the Albion and their fans. It was always one of my ambitions when I first ran for election to help in some small way to bring that about.

As a councillor the job continues to reward when the chance comes to help constituents, make local communities safer and, when the chance allows, work across political lines to do something positive.

Best wishes to all for the festive season and for 2009.

Where your recycling goes...

Today I had the opportunity to take a tour of the Materials Recovery Facility in Hollingdean. This brand new facility sorts the cans, bottles, card, newspaper and other recyclables that we all put out each week.

At the centre of the building is a complex network of walkways, cabins and machines which sort one type of material from the other. One is a vast drum - best described as a tumble dryer the size if a refuse lorry - which sorts material by size. At the end of one of the conveyor belts is an air chute which blows paper up into another belt. Elsewhere a computer senses plastics on a belt and blows it off the belt with a precision blast of compressed air. At another stage giant magnets separate steel and aluminium. Finally small teams of people in cabins sort the remaining material by hand before it is all packed into large bales and taken away for processing.

Aside from the sheer scale of the operation - which will mean that only glass need be separated in our black boxes - there were many fascinating facts which came up. For example Tetrapaks, which are incredibly costly to recycle as they are made up of many different materials, only make up less than one per cent of the material disposed of by households in the city. There is now only one facility which recycles them in the world, in Denmark.

Two tips I did pick up; make sure you crush your plastic bottles as it makes them much easier to process, and keep your recycling dry as wet newspaper and card can cause problems as well. 

I didn't get to see the Waste Transfer Station next door - the facility which deals with all our "black bag" waste - because it was busy with lorries dropping off the tonnes of material this city generates daily. But it was probably just as well. Even for someone who tries to keep refuse down to a bag a week and who recycles as much as possible, this visit was a sobering reminder of just how much material we generate and how much work, energy and cost goes into dealing with it day in, day out.

City College East open evening and event

Along with my colleagues Councillor Gill Mitchell and Councillor Pat Hawkes I was pleased to be able to drop in to an open evening at City College East campus on Wilson Avenue this evening, to see some of the fantastic range of courses available there and to be present at the formal opening of the new learning resource centre there.

The centre is named after Karen Lees, the former head of the school which occupied the site before City College, and who died tragically last year.

I'm glad that the site is thriving as a venue for education and that the College have exciting plans for the future on Wilson Avenue.

For more on the College and what courses are available, visit their website.