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Newsletter 207 - October 2005

In this issue:

• Oops!
• Hostels: the facts
• More Hostels?
• Recycling Arrives
• So What are Communal Bins For?
• Abbotts Stands Alone
• Lunch at the Gallery
• What do you know?
• Great Plans for the West Pier
• Gaters Silenced
• A Chance to Browse Our Past
• Step Back in Time

Oops!

In the September newsletter we announced a guided visit to Brighton Museum. Unfortunately the date given was incorrect. The visit is in fact at 11 am on Saturday November 5th.

If you would like to go, please send your name, telephone number and £3 (cash or cheque payable to The Regency Square Area Society) to

Ron Bakere, RSAS Visits Organiser, 11B Sussex Heights, St Margaret's Place, Brighton BN1 2FQ.

Hostels: the facts

We are starting to get a clearer idea of just what is happening in Regency Square regarding hostels for the homeless.

Concern has been expressed that properties at numbers 14, 15 and 19 have been converted from hotels to hostels for homeless people with alcohol and drug related problems. It seems that a change of use for these properties has been allowed without any consultation. We are still investigating the rather odd piece of planning legislation that allowed this to happen.

More important, perhaps, is the news that the hostels are being run by the Council's housing department. The owner of the properties, who had been running them as hostels himself, is no longer involved in their management.

Residents are housed by the Council but have no security of tenure and can be evicted without notice if their behaviour is unacceptable. They have to conform to strict rules

The Council has appointed two local managers who are based in the hostels. They are:

Michael Burne Tel 01273-294655
Lisa Carrington Tel 01273-294656

Local hoteliers have voiced their worries about the behaviour of people living in the hostels (see our September newsletter). One of the local hostel managers will be contacting hoteliers in Regency Square to talk to them about their concerns.

We have been advised by the Council that local residents or business people should phone the local managers if they see any anti-social behaviour by people who have come from either of the hostels.

More Hostels?

Council officer Steve Bulbeck has overall management responsibility for hostels. He has assured us that the Council will not be taking over any other properties in the Square to house homeless people.

Of course, this does not stop property owners running hostel type establishments themselves, or leasing their properties to other local authority housing departments (such as London boroughs). The issue then would be whether planning permission would be granted for the change of use.

We are hoping to talk further to Steve Bulbeck and the local managers to get more detail on these issues.

In the meantime if you have any views about these issues or questions you would like us to put to Steve Bullbeck, please let us know - tel 01273-321794

Recycling Arrives

Residents around Regency Square received black recycling boxes recently and leaflets explaining how to use them. The boxes will be emptied each Tuesday.

The Society has expressed its concerns about this kind of re-cycling arrangement. We are worried that boxes will be left in the street at the wrong time and passers by will use them as rubbish bins. We already have similar problems with rubbish bags.

So What are Communal Bins For?

The communal bins, which are currently on trial in Oriental Place and other local streets, have a very interesting sign on them. It says very clearly "No dumping of rubbish"!

Can anyone explain this wonderfully arcane piece of local authority thinking?

Abbotts Stands Alone

The house at 128 Kings Road has finally gone, leaving a gap between Abbotts and number 127. The gap is to be filled with a modern block of flats.

Lunch at the Gallery

The Gallery is the training restaurant at Brighton and Hove City College in Whitecross Street.

We have booked a table for lunch on Friday 25th November at 12:45. Starters and deserts are from £2, main courses from £4 and tea and coffee are 75p.

All members are welcome, though places are limited so please book now to be sure of a place. You can book by sending your name, telephone number and a £5 deposit to Ros Boulden, 8 Abbotts, Kings Road, Brighton BN1 2FA. Your deposit will go towards the cost of your lunch.

What do you know?

Earlier in the year an item on the Regency Tavern's history was added to our website; more recently a piece on the Queensbury Arms has appeared.

We are thinking about making a new section on the website showing how all human life can be found in our area at some time or another. Do you have any interesting or amusing anecdotes that we could use?

They can be as long or short as you like - something you remember or just something that you see that is interesting, amusing, unusual or just mundane!!

All contributions welcome. We would need a fairly high number of items to make this viable so please submit anything you can. Send your contributions via the feedback form on the web site (www.regencybrighton.com), or by post to Brian Smith, 45 Regency Square, Brighton.

Great Plans for the West Pier

In his latest newsletter, Geoff Lockwood of the West Pier Trust announced that "good news" about the future of the pier was expected. He also expressed fears that there might be a media leak before the news was confirmed (could this be it??)

The Trust is "on the verge of agreeing a plan with a prestigious private sector partner ... that will preserve what is possible of the old West Pier but will create ... a feature matching for the 21st century the innovation and excitement of the West Pier in 1866. ... the plan leaves open the long term option to restore/reconstruct much of the old West Pier."

Perhaps more will be revealed at the Trust's AGM which is to be held at 6pm on Friday 28th October at the former Hilton West Pier Hotel (now called the Holiday Inn). The Society will be represented at the meeting and any news will be in the next newsletter.

Gaters Silenced

It was an ordinary evening in Queensbury Mews; apart, that is, from the unusually large number of police officers waiting for the Labour Party.

Then the gaters arrived, equipped with very heavy equipment. This was about 11:30 pm. They started to erect a very heavy gate at the top of the mews. This involved making a very loud noise.

People round here are a tolerant lot; at first they just ignored the noise. By half past midnight a few were getting just a tiny bit fed up with it. They started to drift into the street and to ask the gaters if they could please be quiet. The gaters did not seem to understand the problem. They told one neighbour she was making more noise than the equipment!

Eventually the message got through and the gaters were persuaded to stop. Next day residents got a letter of apology from the small mammal who was running security for the Labour Party conference.

The gate remained open throughout the conference.

A Chance to Browse Our Past

A guided tour of Brighton Museum 11 am â?? 12 noon, Saturday 5 November

To book a place send your name, telephone no. & £3 to:
Ron Bakere, RSAS Visits Organiser,
11B Sussex Heights, St Margaret's Place,
Brighton BN1 2FQ.

Step Back in Time

"Step Back in Time" at 125 Queens Road is a shop specialising in old photographs. They have an impressive collection of pictures of Regency Square. One striking example is the Regency Restaurant, snapped in the 1920s when it was a jeweller's. Well worth a look!

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