We would like to thank Councillor Norman for taking the time to read our leaflet (Letters, April 23).

Hopefully, he reads council documents more carefully, as those who have read it will know that: 1. We stand for the Brighton and Hove Independents. There is no group called the Withdean Independents.

2. We are all male as the names and photographs imply.

3. There is no reference in the literature to parking zones in our ward, as clearly there aren't any.

In his letter Councillor Norman is very defensive about his record in Withdean and so he should be.

The Reigate Road area has had a major parking problem since the council's environmental committee (which Coun Norman sits on) approved the parking zone in the Prestonville area more than three years ago. The problems around Preston Park Station have been there for longer. It is only now entering a local election that our councillors seem concerned enough to show interest in helping their residents.

The Brighton and Hove Independent group have candidates in various parts of the ward and we are also aware of other areas of our ward which have similar parking issues.

We are also the only group which wants Brighton and Hove City Council to look at ways to resolve the parking issues in our ward and not just move the problem to other areas of our ward.

As for the A23, our leaflets do not blame the road layouts on the Conservatives. We simply call for them to be urgently reviewed and revised for public safety reasons.

  • James Simister and Simon Swan, Brighton and Hove Independents, Withdean Ward