Solution is all in the mind, Build bolder, Using sea-mail

A bit of imagination is often needed to help solve parking problems in Brighton and Hove. Brighton Health Care NHS Trust is showing that with its idea of using land at the racecourse as a park and ride site.

Minibuses could then ferry around staff between the three main hospital sites in Brighton. The biggest benefit would be felt at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, where a huge redevelopment has put parking pressure on the Kemp Town area.

A similar scheme by Brighton and Hove Council to use buses to shuttle staff around between its main sites has worked well for the last three years. Some staff will still need to use their cars, especially those with families and some who work late at night.

But the more who can be persuaded to use an efficient form of public transport, the better it will be for their colleagues and other road- users in Brighton. Other major employers, especially some in the private sector, should also show enterprise in how they help their staff get to work.

Build bolder

Sarah Tanburn, the new culture and regeneration director for Brighton and Hove, has the right idea about architecture.

Too often, big post-war buildings in the town, such as the Brighton Centre and Bartholomew Square, have been bland and boring. Ms Tanburn says architects should be bold when designing leisure and business buildings and she's right.

Many people visit Brighton and Hove because of great buildings from the past, such as the Royal Pavilion. Other cities, such as Bilbao and Sydney, have created modern buildings that are worldwide attractions. Why not Brighton?

Using sea-mail

Stuart Conway from Hove uses new technology to put messages in bottles. He takes words from people contacting him on the internet and drops them in bottles off the end of the Palace Pier in Brighton.

People from all over the world are taking advantage of his free service because using the sea is so much more romantic than putting messages into cyberspace.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.