Westbourne ward surgery dates

Denise and I will be holding our regular two Advice Surgeries in October.  The first is on Saturday 4th 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 8th October at 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 Museum temporary closure

I have received an e-mail from council officers informing me that Southern Water will be carrying out essential maintenance works at Hove Museum on Tuesday 14 October which will entail turning off the water supply between 10am -3.30pm. Unfortunately, this will mean that the museum will have to be closed the for the day.

Action on telecomms. box graffiti

Walking around the Ward last weekend I came across some more graffiti problems, again, mainly on street boxes. This time it is on the western end of Suffolk Street, the northern side of New Church Road (near Richardson Road) and at Aldrington Halt Station. I have been assured by council officers that these will be cleared within the next couple of days and I will be checking to make sure this has been done.

On the subject of graffiti, I was pleased to see that the Council has teamed up with Virgin Media, who own 2,000 boxes in the City, to try and crack this problem once and for all. Community groups, organisations and individuals are being encouraged to ‘adopt’ their local boxes and keep them free from graffiti, thanks to Virgin Media providing the paint. Brighton & Hove Albion have already pledged their support by adopting 4 boxes near the Withdean Stadium and I hope many others will follow suit. This is exactly the sort of innovative scheme that we need if we are going to get to grips with this seemingly intractable problem.

Repairing ceramic street name tiles

I have written to the Council’s Environment Director asking if it is possible for some action to be taken over the poor state of repair of many of the distinctive ceramic street name tiles in Poet’s Corner.

These tiles adorn many street corner private residences in the area and, over the years, have become damaged, painted over or generally neglected. It would be a great shame, in my view, if these attractive features were simply left to deteriorate further, as they make a unique contribution to the heritage of the City.

I will keep you informed of any progress I make with this.

Join the children's Playbus!

I am happy to publicise the excellent (and free!) Playbus activity afternoons for children aged 8-11 which are being run by run by Brighton & Hove City Council’s Children & Young People’s Trust. The activities available (which are chosen by the kids themselves on the day) include games, toys, using play equipment, balls, parachutes, art materials and music.

Sessions in this area will be taking place at Stoneham Park on 21st October, 4th November, 18th November and 2nd December between 3.30 and 5pm.

Take the train and bus with Plusbus!

Do you ever wish that you could buy just one ticket when taking a journey by public transport which involves both train and bus? Well, if you or your friends and family are travelling to Brighton & Hove you can now do just that courtesy of a new nationwide integrated ticketing system called Plusbus. Plusbus is a non-profit making partnership established and funded by Britain’s bus and train operating companies and Brighton & Hove Bus Company are taking part. For £2 per day you can add unlimited bus travel in the City to your train ticket. This sounds like a really good development to me and is something I shall certainly be making use of in future!

Western Bandstand Restoration Update

Installation of the solid hoarding has now been completed, with viewing windows positioned at strategic places around the perimter.  Excavation of the cafe seating area to the south of the Bandstand and the public realm areas to the east and west has started, and soil testing is currently being carried out to ensure no contamination is present.

Scaffolding has been erected around the Bandstand to enable safe access to the structure.  Timber work within the ceiling of the Bandstand has been removed which allowed the roofing contractor unrestricted views and access to the copper roof.  The roof and cast iron specialists have now dismantled the Bandstand piece by piece.  This process took 2 weeks. 

The roof and balustrades have been taken away to be restored under factory conditions.  On removing the columns it was discovered that the base of the Bandstand was constructed of concrete and steel and not timber as had first been assumed.  Due to the design of the steel frame which was found to be resting on the columns it was necessary to remove the entire floor slab which will be replaced with a new lightweight timber structure.  Work is now underway to replace the floor and following which the internal conversion works can commence.

A dedicated "Bandstand" website on the Brighton & Hove Council website is now up and running and regular updates and photographs will be posted there to ensure everyone is kept informed of progress.