Westbourne Ward surgery dates - January

Denise and I will be holding our regular two advice surgeries in January.  The first is on Saturday 3rd 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 14th January 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

Maintaining Hove seafront

Following a complaint from a local resident about the state of the seafront in the Ward I have had a response from a council officer about some of the actions they are taking to remedy the situation. The officer raises the following points:

·      Since the seafront shelters were refurbished a couple of months ago, they have experienced an unusually high level of vandalism. Many of the panes of glass have had to be replaced with Perspex and even this has been damaged. The seafront officers who patrol the area every day and carry out daily inspections have informed me that the broken panels have had to be removed and that they are currently investigating alternative materials to see if there is another option as the cost of ongoing repair and replacement is very expensive.

·      A bid for funding to repaint the shelters next season is now being given due consideration. Although these shelters were only refurbished very recently the harsh sea elements and the very exposed location means that the rust from the caste iron ‘bleeds’ through the paint work and makes them look as if they are in a far worse condition than they actually are.

·      Each year a section of the seafront railings are thoroughly stripped back to the metal, treated and repainted but the budget allocation to do this is limited so there is also a team of people whose job it is to just paint the railings. This team has been working their way along the seafront in Brighton in an effort to improve the appearance of the area until such time as the next section is due for a more thorough make over. The council is looking to increase the amount of work carried out to railings as part of next seasons planned maintenance programme for the seafront.

I will make sure residents are kept informed of any developments as and when I hear from officers again.

Talk the Talk and Walk the Ward

Last Thursday, Denise and I, with a number of council officers and the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Team, walked around Westbourne Ward as part of the preparations for the Ward Action Day (on the 7 February) which I have written about previously on this blog.

During the walkabout, which took around 90 minutes the following issues were identified: 

·      Graffiti on street boxes and private property

·      The poor state of some elements of the seafront

·      blocked drains which flood during heavy rain

·      the problem of tree roots disrupting pavement surfaces

·      the need for a new approach to Portland Road

·      the need to clear railway land to the south of Aldington Halt Station

Officers of the Council will now go way to consider these issues and will come up with a programme of works ready for the Action Day and beyond.

In addition, to the walk around the Ward, I also spoke, that afternoon, to the Environment Cabinet Member Meeting to discuss the need for resurfacing of the pavement and road in Portland Road.  The road is patched in numerous places, the pavement is quite uneven and no real public sector expenditure has taken place in this major east west corridor at the western end of  Hove for many years.  In addition, there is also a lot of support for a remarketing or re-branding of Portland Road to attract shoppers from not only the nearby neighbourhood but also from further afield.  Portland Road has a number of speciality shops which cater for people both within the West Hove area and beyond. 

I also said at the Cabinet Member Meeting that in fact the road has two main sets of users - not only local people using it for shopping etc. but also as a major artery to the western end of the city. 

In response, I received the following message from the Cabinet Member, Councillor Theobald:

I understand that you have been contacted by residents who feel that the area would benefit from Portland Road being resurfaced and as you have already discussed the potential of improvements with officers.

I have asked officers to consider Portland Road for inclusion in a future Highways Maintenance Programme if funding can be identified for these works.  I have also asked officers to contact you in order to address the detailed sites and the areas that are currently of concern to you.

I shall be discussing this issue further with officers and representatives of the Portland and Clarendon Forum and will report back in due course.

As part of the Ward Action Day, I am also hoping to arrange a “Parking Surgery” for local churches who are experiencing problems during their services with the parking arrangements that are now in place.

If you would like to get involved with the Westbourne Action Day, on the 7 February, please don’t hesitate to email me on brian.oxley1@mac.com. 

I look forward to hearing from you!

Contact friends and family around the world!

I have been forwarded details of the following event which I thought residents might find interesting:

OPEN DAY AT FAMILY INVESTMENTS - Sat. 6th December at 17 West Street, Brighton. 10 am until 3pm

Family Investments is offering older people the opportunity to contact family, relatives and friends anywhere in the world from their premises in West Street. You are also invited to bring your Christmas cards to be posted courtesy of Family. You can also enjoy mince pie and refreshments whilst you are there. Age Concern will endeavour to provide transport if you have mobility difficulties.

Contact Age Concern on 01273 720603

Ward surgery 10th December

Denise and I will be holding an Advice Surgery on Wednesday 10th December at Hove Museum from 5pm until 6.30pm.  As always, no appointments are necessary. We are hoping that the local Police Community Support Officer will be able to attend to offer advice.

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

Westbourne Ward Action Day

I am pleased to announce that a ward action day is being organised for Westbourne on 7th February 2009. This is all about the local community and public services coming together to try and make a real difference to the appearance and smooth running of the neighbourhood. The Fire and Police services have already confirmed that they will be attending and we are hoping that many others will join them.

As well as having a general clear up on the day, we will also be seeking to recruit local residents to act as the eyes and ears of the community. The idea is that local people will pick up on anything that the Council has missed, such as graffiti and street litter and report them directly to the Council to deal with or to me and Denise, my Ward colleague.

I will post further details of the day closer to the time but in the meantime, if you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to get in touch – brian.oxley1@mac.com

Groyne trouble!

During recent maintenance work, council officers discovered that the concrete groyne opposite Berriedale Avenue has been undermined and is in need of partial replacement. To fix it, the last 20 metres of the groyne will need to be removed and replaced with a timber groyne. They are hoping that the work will be able to be carried out in March next year but it is reliant on a successful application for funding to the Environment Agency. I will keep you posted on any developments.