Councillors have voted to bring in consultants to help draw up a 10-year plan to promote Brighton and Hove as a tourist destination and a centre for creative industries.
The proposed Creative Destination Vision and Strategy is due to be drafted and signed off in the coming year and to cover the period from 2025 to 2035.
One councillor, discussing a report about the 10-year plan, said that it was full of “fluffy” words and ideas and officials would be better off drawing up a “prospectus” to attract investors.
But another said that those words were needed to set out “where we are, where we want to go and how we are going to get there”.
The report to councillors said: “Two of Brighton and Hove’s biggest economic contributors are the creative and visitor economies.
“The visitor economy was worth £880 million in economic benefit and supported more than 23,425 jobs in the city which equates to 16 per cent of all employee jobs in Brighton and Hove.
“With induced and indirect spend, the total value of tourism was worth £1.27 billion in 2022.”
Conservative councillor Samer Bagaeen wanted to know more about the brief for the consultants and said that the description of Brighton and Hove as a creative destination was “lovely but fluffy”.
He said that the council should produce a prospectus to attract businesses, jobs and investment rather than drawing up a strategy and trying to deliver its objectives.
Councillor Bagaeen told a meeting at Hove Town Hall that the council needed to focus on investment in the latest digital infrastructure that would make vital inward investment more likely.
He said that it should also focus on the human capital and skills on offer here as well as the spaces needed by growing firms.
He added: “I would like to see a prospectus for Brighton and Hove on the cultural and creative industries. That is what is going to bring the investment in. That is the sort of ambition we should have.”
One of Brighton and Hove City Council’s most senior officials, Donna Chisholm, said that the focus would be on those areas where the local economy had a “competitive advantage”.
She said that professional experts would help the council to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the different sectors of the local economy and decide where to provide a boost.
Labour councillor Ty Goddard said that there was a budget to develop a business prospectus for Brighton and Hove – “the really whopping figure of £40,000 … but at least it’s better than nothing.”
Councillor Goddard said: “We have quite a shoddy web page at the moment that says, ‘Hello! We quite like business, sort of, in the city. Do come and grow in Brighton.’
“We’re going to get a bit more sophisticated around our business proposition.”
He also said: “We cannot afford to just be a strategy-producing council. I’ve lost count, as perhaps lots of people have, of the number of strategies that we have.
“We’ve got to avoid duplication. We’ve got to be much more proactive about how we sell the city. We’ve got to be really focued on some of those issues and we’ve also got to avoid duplication.”
The report to councillors said: “The Creative Destination Strategy will celebrate, promote and support the city’s unrivalled history and heritage, its world-class arts and culture, its booming creative industries, its position as a leading centre for conferencing and major events and its outstanding restaurants, cafés, hotels, pubs and bars to UK and global visitors.
“It will set out a vision for the city to strengthen its identity as a world-leading leisure and business destination for UK and global visitors, workers and residents to enjoy.”
At a meeting of the council’s Culture, Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Economic Development Committee, Labour councillor Jilly Stevens thanked those who had prepared the report.
Councillor Stevens said: “I know that they are as committed as we are to restoring Brighton and Hove to its former place as the city to visit and to live, for real innovation and creativity.
“We desperately need a long-term strategy. I very much hope that I’ll be as active and able to make the most of living here in 10 years’ time.
“I might not be as spring-like as I am at the moment but I know that my children and my grandchildren will be here.
“And it’s for them, isn’t it, that we look ahead and plan for the future, which is why this is a 10-year plan.
“It’s not lots of good, lovely, exciting, little piecemeal projects that perhaps we’ve done in the past. This is something that is quite serious and it’s visionary.
“A proper strategy that involves everyone – and that is individuals, communities, businesses – and businesses are important in this – is absolutely crucial to realising our dream of a rejuvenated Brighton and Hove. And we do have that dream still in our heads.
“I don’t really like the word strategy but it’s difficult to come up with an alternative. We’re talking about a long-term plan.
“And, yes, at the moment, it is lots of words. And that’s what people have said to me. Oh, you know, you come up with all the words.
“But we do have to set out what we are going to do and where we are, where we want to go and how we are going to get there – and it takes words to start with.
“So we’re doing it in a way that involves people’s ideas – as many as we can – before we get down to action. But that is what we will do. We will act. It’s not just words.
“Not because it’s nice to say we live somewhere arty farty and creative and forward-thinking and trendy, but because it’s all about money. It’s how our city will create wealth again.
“We need money. We need money to tackle our problems of poverty and inequality. We need money to rejuvenate our city centre.
“And we need to be, and we really will be, a prosperous city again. The Brighton and Hove that we all know and love. And this report will help us get there.”
Green councillor Raphael Hill asked why consultants were needed and said that the cost of their work was unclear – and that this was a concern given other cuts in the council’s budget.
The committee voted on Thursday (7 March) to buy in the services of consultants during the spring and ask them to engage “with communities and sectors” and draft the strategy.
start by cleaning the place up its a disgusting mess
Very true. That and the parking costs.
It’s not exactly one or the other. Both can happen.
Cut the exorbitant parking scam
They should call in Paula Murry (former deputy CEO) who left BHCC to become culture tzar of Croydon council. If she has the ability and courage to take on that job she could surely help a city she already knows very well. Any ‘creative destination’ strategy should include stopping sewerage pouring onto our beaches, restoring Hove Lawns and surrounds, getting rid of graffiti, and a good overall clean up.
VG3 should put loads of visitors and businesses off
It has made driving through Brighton hell.
Another strategy fail plus cost of consultants, which will balloon., as it always does. I don’t think consultants get out of bed for £40k. Is there nobody in amongst the councillors or in council employment who could organise a brainstorm/working party to come up with ideas. Obviously not.
I think anybody would say, without spending anything on consultants at this point, as previous commentators have said on here, clean the place up, make it look good and then we’ll think about a long-term plan.
In a rare moment of Green commonsense – Cllr Hill asked why consultants are needed, when the overall cost is unclear and there are more immediate cuts that could be addressed.
As anyone sensible could tell Bella’s (soon to be cabinet apparently) Barmy Army, you fix the foundations before building anything.
Oh dear Bella-it didn’t take you long to fall into the usual BHCC trap of ‘consultants/a Report’ but not actual action! Dig into Council archives and re-read the numerous ‘culture improvement plans’ whwhich can be found there.
Local councillors should be more focused upon operational matters rather than strategic. There are too many Indians wanting to be chiefs.
Someone has to deal with the basic functions a local authority are supposed to perform.. this is the role of the local councillor.
Well actually we need them to both. I am sure this plan will have its challenges but it is a step in the right direction
It’s an idea; however, a lot needs to be done in the City, to upgrade facilities, ensure Council Services are run properly and cost effectively, before we spend money that WE DON’T HAVE!!!
At Last, the council has admitted that there is something wrong, but it has omitted to admit it was they who got the town in this mess in the first place. Similar to all the subsribers, it doesn’t take a marketing genious to see what glaringly is wrong. Brighton’s shop window is digustingly filthy and what the crowds must think when leaving after getting sub-standard service, whilst being fleeced for the privilage, one can be pretty sure it’s not complimentory. Whether the council likes it not, the town relies on the motorist, but what favours are given to them… none, only an abhorrent traffic system that makes the motorist the most fined outside of London. Quite an accolade and one the council should be utterly ashamed of. We, the people who live in this place, have silently screamed at these who supposedly represent us, but it has all fallen on deaf ears for decades. If they as a body can stand on the seafront and be proud of what they have produced, then they should all resign.
£40,000 to do a SWOT analysis and medium/long term roadmap to attract visitors and businesses?! Let me guess, you’ll employ some London consultants with a flashy website and no substance. All in the same week that you claim there’s no money and close popular and affordable nurseries and schools. Jesus wept.
You know that’s a fairly standard price, Emily. However, reports can also only take one so far. Need more substance than just a report. Reports are great, as long as they are then followed through with action!
Just to say that they clarified that the consultant cost would likely be £45,000 though it could go higher without any means to scrutinise higher costs. I abstained on this basis.
Forget consultants; just concentrate on providing the services we already pay for. To announce this the week that next year’s council tax bills are arriving is adding insult to injury. BHCC are cutting services as they have no money yet they can find money for consultants!!!!
That is not quite accurate; the council, along with most others, are struggling because they are having to do more with significantly less. This is a truth that is constantly being spun by opposition groups, because respectfully, people, like yourself, are happy to jump on the bandwagon without actually thinking it through logically.
However, I do agree with you; I wonder if consultancy is the best usage of funding.
The 40k is for the business or inward investment prospectus. The cost of the consultants is unstated, but almost certainly more.
Many of the key problems are obvious, and many are of the council’s creation, like the neglect of the Madeira terraces, or the ludicrous cost of parking anf the absence of dedicated parking for coaches.
Too many people come here once and find the parking inadequate and expensive, with no park and ride and, if they come by train, all too often, replacement buses instead of a trains.
And the Victoria Gardens bus gate trap still catches out too many, with ambiguous signage, or signs that can’t be seen until it’s too late, especially if you’re behind a bus.
The deliberate choking of traffic on the seafront, West Street, North Street, and the southern end of the A23 and A27, among other places, have all added to pollution, making those places unpleasant. Buses used to be able pass each other in Noth Street. The current road layout is absurd.
These are just basics that deter tourists from returning and employers from basing themselves here.
My former employer quietly whittled down her presence here and left. She’s moved abroad and gone online, with lower overheads, less political nonsense and the ability to make and receive deliveries without overzealous parking enforcement.
The only driving the council likes is driving jobs away.
we had 11 million visitors, they didn’t all come by car
Exorbitant parking costs put off tourists as does the deliberately placed bus gates. Now we are looking at a crazy VG3 scheme which will gridlock the Steine and seafront
My favourite definition of a consultant is ‘you give them your watch and then pay them to tell you what time it is’.
Please don’t waste our money on these muppets. just reverse all the disastrous parking and road schemes, get rid of the graffiti and restore everything which needs to be restored.
Same old throw of money to consultants.
its the SAME mindset that got excited about i360 & Frank Gehry’s crmpked aluminium & concrete towers design for King Alfred! Wake up!
Tackle the WHY of Brighton’s identity in the public mind that dismisses the city as a go-to. Be more honest! The sleazy, grubby and expensive image needs a VERY deep clean. Its a place “where everyone looks like they are helping police with their enquiries” a comedian once quipped. Its about boozing, drugs, West St, Hen & stag blowouts and fouling our beaches with rubbish. And Pride behaviour issues (sex etc on people’s frint gardens). That’s the draw that residents suffer. Stop bigging up ‘the night time economy’ that fuels the sordid! And rebuild all the closed public toilets in visitor areas – like the one under the shrubs at Pameira Square?!
I mean, you started strong, before it became a personal vendetta. Night time economy is important for Brighton, there’s no getting around from that reality. Being someone inside looking in is always going to give a biased point of view. Visitors aren’t really going to care about the majority of things locals are, because at most, it’s a mild inconvenience.
Just read the comments on the national newspapers every time Brighton is mentioned to see what needs to be done. The thousands of comments are the city is dirty, rubbish and graffiti and junkies hasselling people all over the place. This is not what you see in other UK tourism cities or those abroad.
The last one I saw on the BBC was the same people who commented on here, and the Argus. It was no-one near “thousands”, and most of it had devolved into people throwing insults at each other. Honestly, I’d hardly feel our online lot is representative of much beyond a small subset of people.
Welcome more event only after residential engagement and after agreement that any remedial work is paid for and carried out by the events organisers and a charge is made specifically made to benefit of the local area where the event is held