Councillors have been inundated with complaints about parking permit problems, rubbish and recycling, litter and fly-tipping, overgrown weeds blocking pavements and graffiti.
Labour councillor Gary Wilkinson said that “these are clearly systemic issues” and urged the Greens to admit that there was a problem.
But Green councillor Amy Heley said that the issues raised included areas with policies made under the previous Labour administration.
The exchange took place when Brighton and Hove City Council met at Brighton Town Hall last night (Thursday 21 October).
Councillor Wilkinson had intended to propose a formal motion asking for a dedicated working group to be set up to address the problems.
But the meeting of the full council was abandoned when a Labour member received a positive coronavirus test result.
Councillor Wilkinson said: “Over recent months my inbox has been inundated with a high volume of complaints from residents angry about basic council services failing to deliver – and I am sure most councillors are receiving similar complaints.
“From delayed parking permits resulting in fines, rubbish and refuse bins not being emptied for weeks on end, pre-dating the bin lorry drivers’ strike, and general dismay with the maintenance, upkeep and cleanliness of many parts of our city.
“I recognise the challenges the pandemic has presented and commend the hard work council staff have undertaken during this time.
“These are clearly systemic issues, not the actions of individual council staff.
“But with graffiti becoming the norm on our once-beautiful streets, residents having to navigate fly-tipping obstacles and the fear of rats, litter on our streets, beaches and in our parks, does the chair of the ETS (Environment, Transport and Sustainability) Committee agree with me that we have a problem?”
Green councillor Amy Heley, who chairs the committee, said that the issues raised included areas with policies made under the previous Labour administration.
The committee had received regular updates, she said, on issues such as improvements in Cityclean, the refuse and recycling service, and in the parks service, Cityparks.
Councillor Heley also said: “Last week members saw briefings on the next steps taken to address the current IT problems with the parking system.
“Of course, all councillors want to see excellent services in the city, and I look forward to working with you and the rest of the council to deliver services for our residents.”
One can only hope that the Green administration are ejected at the next election. They should resign en masse but Phelim and his motley band don’t do honour.
Heley is an embarrassment, even the Greens realise this. Trouble is , the rest of the Green councillors seem to spin a Web of lies and deceit, so if they replaced Heley, there’d just be more of the same
It shouldn’t matter which flavour of administration is/was in charge, the residents expect to get the basic services they pay for carried out. If the council staff are not doing their jobs, maybe because they know there’s no comeback, maybe through lack of management or poor management, then that should be attended to.
At the same time, a lot of residents could help themselves and the council by not making the place look like a rubbish dump, not spraying graffiti on every available space and not acting with no consideration for anyone but themselves. This would make more funds available to the council to cover other services.
That’s my Saturday morning rant, I’m off to do some weeding.
who was the cllr who found out during the meeting that she/he had been tested positive for covid and when did she/he take the test?
I predict certain Greens will be out by the end of October and good riddance. Anyone acting as an agent of chaos is not acting as a public servant but the opposite of a public servant. If this was the private sector they’d all have been sacked long ago. Or never employed in the first place! PS; ‘Climate Crisis’ is not listed as a statuory duty and therefore none of our council tax should be going towards it. Let our council prove it cares about environment by delivering the best waste and recycling service in the country, rather than one of the worst.
What are the policies made by the previous Labour administration to which Councillor Heley refers? Do they cover graffiti, rubbish, weeds (apart from other council members)? How easy it is to blame past council members for lack of initiative in dealing with current problems. The Greens clearly are incapable of coping, should admit it and then resign. They should stop telling us lies, wasting ratepayers’ time and money.
Yes there were problems with the previous administration byt they pale into insignificance with the problems caused by this current green Administration. No one believes a word they say, the town is an utter shambles and no one is to blame for that except them and the useless officers who take far too much of our council tax.
And the Greens continue to blame their failings on problems inherited from the previous administration! Yet they sought election on the promise that they would do better. Then gained power and responsibility only to blame their failings on history. As if history was unknown when they sought to be elected! No wonder so many of us are disillusioned, feel conned, etc. Can any party really be trusted to deliver, locally or nationally?