The Argus reports that more than half of the councillors and senior staff at Brighton and Hove City Council believe it disregards the outcome of consultations with the public.

An "action plan" to improve things was discussed at a meeting of the Council yesterday.

Posted 13 January 2010

The Planning Application for a new cell phone mast atop the Providence pub in Western Road has been approved. The mast will be slightly larger than the present one, but more powerful. You can find full details on our Planning Page.

Posted 8 January 2010

The Old Market Trust is faced with receivership after HM Revenue and Customs lodged a petition in the High Court on 26 November to wind up the Trust. The hearing will be heard on 16 December.

This could be the end of the road for the OMT following the rejection of their plans to build glass penthouses atop the fine old building. They petitioned Brighton & Hove City Council for funding but a Council spokesman has said funds are not available.

Posted 27 November 2009.

Our earlier reportsare below.

The Old Market Trust have sent a petition to the City Council asking for financial support for the OMT. This follows rejection of their planning application which they described as vital for the survival of the debt-ridden Trust.

It seems unlikely that the Council would be willing to take on the OMT debt mountain.

Updated 26 November 2009

The Old Market Trust is appealing the rejection of their Planning Application for the erection of 2 penthouse apartments on the roof of The Old Market.

The closing date for submissions to the Inspecorate has now passed.

Go to on our Planning Page for more details.

Updated 26 November 2009

The City Council have organised a meeting to discuss the proposal to install gates in the Farman Street passage, on Monday 18 January at 7:00pm at Bradshaw's Bar, 5/6 Western Road. The results of the recent ballot will be available.

Simon Bannister of the City Council asks that any new evidence or comments be emailed to him or presented at the meeting. He added " It would be good to leave the Monday meeting with a clear idea of the gating scheme which is the prefered option of most residents which I can then progress to a draft gating order."

EBRA urge all those interested to attend.

Posted 13 January 2010

Residents of Farman Street have always been affected by the activities of late night revelers in Western Road.

Now that the passage by Bradshaw's Bar (5/6 Western Road) has been restored EBRA has been following this up on behalf of the residents and with the full support of the owner of Bradshaw's Bar.

A meeting of interested parties to discuss the matter was held on 17th November, attended by EBRA committee members, Council officials, local councilors and many local residents. Read the minutes here.

The City Council issued a ballot paper for residents to complete, and a petition from concerned residents was presented to a meeting of the full City Council in the first week of December. We await the outcome.

Updated 8 January 2010.

The owner of the Riz Raz restaurant on Western road (in the area know locally as "the Medina") was fined £3,000 with over £3,200 in costs on 25th November after City Council Inspectors found an infestation of rats in the food preparation area.

The inspectors also found thick grease and dirt on the floor, on the cooker and in the oven and described it as the worst case they had ever seen.

Mr Alaa El Dein Asfour, who was fined a similar amount for the same offence in April, has been banned from operating any restaurant for at least six months.

Mr Asfour blamed a downturn in trade and the smoking ban for his problems. No kebabs without hookahs apparently.

Posted 2 December 2009. Source The Argus.

Despite looking great, our recently refurbished bandstand has already had to be repainted. The Argus has the news!

The BN3 postcode which includes most of the EBRA area now features at No 10 in the Top 20 areas of the UK "likely to file burglary claims" according to recent research by moneysupermarket.com.

According to the study, if you have lived in BN3 for the past 5 years you had a better than 1 in 4 chance of being burgled at some time! Presumably your chances of having this traumatic experience are not likely to improve in the near future.

Members living in BN1 (Western Street and points east) should not feel smug; we doubt that burglars in search of targets take much notice of postcodes.

Sussex Police provide advice on prevention measures online or call them on 0800 456 1213. You can also get free advice from B&Q and Focus if you fancy a bit of DIY.

Sussex Police Information Centre. Look under B for Burglary

Posted 26 September 2009

Where did Hove end and Brighton begin? Why do I vote for a Brighton MP but a Hove councillor? Yes, some do! Why is my postcode BN1 when I live in Hove? We have the answers!

For historical reasons Estate Agents can erect advertisements without Planning Permission. But they are ugly, inrusive and inappropriate in the internet age.

The City Council made a proposal to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to withdraw that privilege in all the Brighton Conservation Areas. But Brighton and Hove Estate Agents' Association objected on the grounds that the area is too large. But it is large precisely because much of Brighton & Hove is of high architectural merit!

If you have yet to write to the Secretary of State then do so now! The address to write to is: Secretary of State, c/o C Kearney at Communities and Local Government, Floor 1/A1 Eland House, Bressenden Place, London SW1E 5DU.

The closing date for comments is 8 February so do not delay! It might be a good idea to mention the historic nature and beautiful streets of Brunswick Town!

The City Council want us all to support this ban via their have-your-say page on the web.

A public hearing will be held at Hove Town, Norton Road Wednesday 9 March at 10.00am.

John Corbettlee of Corbettlee Estate Agents entirely supports this ban as does Claire Brice of Brices Sales and Lettings.

EBRA members may prefer to use local businesses that support EBRA and our neighbourhood and share our aims. You can find links to their websites and other details in the EBRA Directory.

The City Council have set up a scrutiny panel to review the effects of setting a 20mph speed limit in parts of the city. They will be looking at traffic calming measures and 20mph signs and considering environmental issues, safety and benefits to communities.

The panel is seeking the views of residents and have issued a comments form that you can use.

Posted 20 December 2009.

Car owners in Brunswick and Adelaide suffer severe problems finding a place to park near their homes. The area is densely populated, there are few garages and too few parking bays. The waiting list for a parking permit is 12 months! The situation is aggravated by the Council issuing permits to those who only work in the area despite claiming that they give priority to residents.

LARA, Lansdowne Area Residents' Association, with support from EBRA are presenting a petition to the Council to have Parking Zone M (which covers Brunswick and Adelaide) combined with Zones N and O, the adjacent areas of Hove which do not have waiting lists. Other amalgamations in Brighton & Hove have reduced waiting lists, and we are hopeful the Council will approve this.

Posted 8 December 2009.

On Saturday 31 October an attempt was made to steal a lamppost and an EBRA pot complete with tree from Waterloo Street. The miscreant could not carry them away, the pot was broken, and the lamppost left lying in the road, its cables severed.

The dastardly deed left part of Waterloo Street distinctly dark, an invitation to further dodgy doings. EBRA asked our local councillor Paul Elgood to get the Council to repair the lamppost post haste.

Eventually the lamppost was replaced but by one of a different design! Waterloo Street was one of the few streets in the city that had replicas of the original cast iron gas lamps of old. To install another design was just crazy! And two members were convinced the uprooted streetlight was basically undamaged.

EBRA is not happy and a meeting with the Council is being arranged..

Updated 3 December 2009.

Aerials and satellite dishes that are visible from the street are ILLEGAL in a Conservation Area under Planning Law and the City Council has an obligation to respond to complaints enforce compliance. They are all over East Brunswick like a rash, and nothing ever gets done!

We recently reported yet another case at 10 A & B Upper Market Street and got this reply from Susan Bailey of Planning Enforcement: "The Council currently has high enforcement caseloads and it is important that we focus on work which causes most harm so we can create an efficient, responsive enforcement service. To this end, we are currently not investigating cases that involve satellite dishes. This is a temporary arrangement that will end in March 2010 when we will be happy to receive new complaints regarding these."

Susan thanked us for our patience, but it has run out! We shall continue to report each and every case we see, and we have asked Councillor Paul Elgood to follow up this deplorable state of affairs.

Posted 26 September 2009

Sadly, Norah Tunney, a well known local character who lived in Waterloo Street has passed away at the age of 61. She will be missed by all.

You will remember her as the lady who wore wonderful hats when riding in her wheelchair to which she had been confined for many years.

Norah was a former nurse and we will all miss the colour she brought to Waterloo Street. We will always remember her.

Bill Cowell, Co Chair, EBRA

Posted 26 November 2009

Some time back we predicted that allowing terraces to be built atop the Lion & Lobster in Sillwood Street was likely to create a noise nuisance, and of course it did!

Following a flood of complaints the City Council decided that the pub must close the terraces at 11pm and guess what? At 11pm the smokers were out in the street again, and the complaints continued!

In September this decision was reversed, the terraces could stay open. Some really joined-up thinking has been going on here!

The licensees must be relieved that the alleged half-a-million spent on the terraces was not money up in smoke, at least not yet, for the pub is now to undergo a full License Review. We await the outcome with keen interest.

Posted 1 November 2009

Since the above was written the review decided the pub must employ an accredited Door Suprvisor to ensure that no drinking took place in the street.

EBRA have just heard that Imaad Khan's uncle, Amir Khan, who runs the Taj food stores in Western Road and 2 other locations, is hoping to open a further branch shortly.

The Taj is an excellent business very popular with our members. One word though, please don't put your nephew in charge Mr Khan!

Posted 6 February 2010

In December 2009 Imaad Khan, 21 and director of Amber Foods was charged with 26 counts of contravening hygiene regulations, 2 counts of selling out of date produce and 3 counts of blocking the public highway.

He was due to attend a hearing at Brighton Magistrates court on the 23rd December but failed to appear.

An arrest warrant was issued and Mr Khan was arrested and spent Xmas Day in custody. He appeared in court on 4 January and was fined over £4,000 including costs. A full account appears on the City Council Website.

EBRA have now heard that the premises at 17 Western Road are being advertised for sale or lease.

Posted 8 January 2010

On 11 December we reported an improvement in the obstruction situation outside Amber Foods. However the Council were in the process of bringing a series of charges against Mr Khan which resulted in his arrest.

We had hoped the situation would "normalise". That it did not do so is in no way due to EBRA. We have made no representations to the Council or police for some time, but it appears things have just gone too far and the authorities have taken action. EBRA wish it could have been otherwise, but Mr Khan does not seem to understand that one must operate within the law.

We were interested to find a web blog devoted entirely to the activities of Amber Foods, click the link below.

Our original report follows.

Posted 8 December 2009.

At the end of October after many complaints, our dirty and smelly communal bins were replaced by a new type. The replacements have no foot bar and a small lid. You have to lift the lid with one hand and throw in the rubbish with the other, not easy, in fact very difficult for short or infirm people to do. As a result rubbish piles up around them. Any fool can see this is a daft design!

Apparently Cityclean abandoned the bins with foot bars because they "kept breaking". The Council advised us to use small bags, not that you could ever lift big ones that far!

Our local councillors are on the case and we will let you know how it goes.

Complain to Cityclean!

Posted 13 November 2009.

The application to vary the late opening hours of the Iron Duke has been granted by the Council but with conditions attached.

In particular the Council said, "…it was clear that there was a problem with noise outside these premises…which are within a special stress area".

The Iron Duke already has a license to serve drinks until 3am every day, but the doors were closed after 12pm. The variation was to have the doors open until 2.30am at the weekend and 1.30pm other days. The application was granted but with conditions:

• CCTV to be installed in public areas and outside the doors.
• Bar staff to have regular training in age-restricted sales.
• No drinks to be taken outside the pub at any time.
• No more than 6 customers to smoke outside at any time after 10pm.
• An SIA* registered Door Supervisor to be employed after 10pm at weekends, and on 24 hour call-out other times.
• The main door to be kept closed at all times except to allow customers to enter or leave.

"Outside the pub" includes the porch.
* SIA =Security Industry Authority

These conditions are quite stringent and local residents may feel that these conditions will improve the situation. We have asked mine host Peter Lindars to comment and await his reply. (As of late January we are still waiting! Ed.)

Posted 14 December 2009