Westbourne Ward Surgery Dates - July

Denise and I will be holding our regular two Advice Surgeries in July.  The first is on Saturday 5th July and will be held at the TalkShop in Stoneham Park.  The time for this surgery is from 10am until 11am.

The second date is Wednesday 9th July at the Hove Museum from 5pm until 6.30pm.  No appointments are necessary at either surgery.

In the meantime, if you want to contact me on this or any other matter, my email address is: brian.oxley1@mac.com

Hove Library 100th birthday

I had the opportunity this past Tuesday to attend one of the events to mark the 100th Anniversary of the opening of Hove Library.

The Library is important to so many people and I use it most weeks to have a look through the periodicals section and to borrow CDs.

The event took place in the morning and the Mayor and Mayoress were in attendance.  A large number of library users were present and all the staff took part in costume from the early 20th Century.  At 11am, following a speech from the Mayor, a magnificent cake was brought forward, it depicted two books, one on top of the other.

The Mayor was ceremoniously presented with a knife to cut the cake and pieces were handed round to those present.

A further ceremony was to take place in the evening.

Happy Birthday Hove Library!

Conway Court and West Hove Childrens' Centre

I recently attended a meeting of the Portland and Clarendon Forum and an item was raised drawing attention to all the services that are being provided at the Conway Court and West Hove Childrens' Centre.  I hope this information is helpful.

If you wish to contact me on this or any other issue, please email me at: brian.oxley1@mac.com

Do you have feedback on my blog?

I have been writing this blog for approximately 18 months now and I try to include non-political information which draws attention to issues that I am either dealing with within the Westbourne Ward or matters that I have recently been involved with e.g. the 100th Birthday of Hove Library.

I don't get a great deal of feedback from the blog directly to me and I wondered whether, if you do read the blog regularly, you could let me know what information you might find useful or whether the mix of surgery dates, ward issues, and other issues is the right mix.

Please email me at brian.oxley1@mac.com.  I look forward to hearing from you. 

Green box telecoms. wires exposed

Whilst I was walking in the Ward over the weekend I discovered a couple of green boxes (which house telecommunication wires), that have had their fronts removed exposing all the wires inside. One was on New Church Road near Westbourne Gardens and the other was in Pembroke Gardens. I have contacted the appropriate authorities and now hopefully this potential hazard will be sorted out. I also came across a street sign for New Church Road that had been detached by vandals. Again, I have asked that this be sorted out as a matter of urgency.

Langdale Gardens Street Party

At the weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to attend a street party in Langdale Gardens. These parties are becoming something of a tradition for the residents and have helped to foster a great community spirit in the road. The day itself was a great success with activities including a quiz, craft stalls and a live band. There must have been over 100 people in the street when I attended and the children appeared to be having a wonderful time! The Mayor of Brighton & Hove – Garry Peltzer Dunn – was also able to attend and had lunch with the residents.

I would like to thank all the organisers for their hard work in putting on this event and for being kind enough to ask me to attend.

Poet's Corner Problems

I was in Poets’ Corner over the weekend and I came across a couple of problems:

1) The street sign on the south side of Montgomery Street, near its junction with Rutland Road is worn out.

2) There is quite extensive graffiti on a green box on the south side of Mortimer Road and also on the south approach to Aldrington Halt station.

I have asked officers in the Environment Directorate of the Council if these two issues can be sorted out.

Graffiti seems to be an ever-present issue on our streets even though the Council actively removes it from street furniture, signs and council-owned bus shelters. Unfortunately, there aren’t the resources to remove it from private property but racist or offensive graffiti is removed within one hour wherever possible. You can find further information on all of this on the Council’s web site.

Update:- I have now been assured by officers that an order has been raised for the street name plate on Montgomery Street and that the work will be completed by 8th September.

Update:- I have also been assured that the graffiti will be removed in the next couple of days. Many thanks to officers for a swift response to both of these.