Looking forward to Brighton and Hove's future

7:30pm Thursday 17th May 2012 in News By Tim Ridgway, Local government reporter

Brighton and Hove City Council leader Jason Kitcat Buy this photo » Brighton and Hove City Council leader Jason Kitcat

Today (May 17)Jason Kitcat, a Green councillor since 2007, became leader of the city council and took charge of a budget of more than £720 million.

Despite his star rising in the national Green party and holding apparent political ambitions elsewhere, Coun Kitcat maintains his immediate political future remains in the city.

The father-of-two, who was not challenged for the role, said: “By 2015 I still want to be leader of this council. It's an incredible opportunity to be able to do this.

“By 2015 I really want to see change on the ground.

“I really want people to see a different city so that people will know that we have been here.”

Coun Kitcat, 34, rejects claims that he does not have the experience for the role in arguably the toughest time ever in local government.

He said: “People seem to be forgetting it is the same age that Steve Bassam became leader of Brighton Borough Council.

“I have started a number of businesses and run a not-for-profit organisation.

“I would not have the confidence of the party if they did not feel I was capable.

“I have been selected by my peers and my party to do this.

“Age only goes so far but it's about the experience of people.

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“If that’s all that people can throw at me then I’ve not got a lot more to worry about.”

PRIORITIES

Coun Kitcat listed three major aims of his initial one-year tenure as leader of the council.

1) Local Economy
"This is one of the major areas I want to look at as investment in major projects can be the stimulus for so many other things.

"With the i360 I know the Preston Street traders are waiting for that to happen before they spend money on their own businesses.”

2) Making the city a better place to live
“It really is an incredible city and I really want to talk it up.

“I think we should be looking to compare ourselves with some of the leading cities in the world such as Toronto, Barcelona and Sydney and I want to look at ways we can do that.

“It will not be an easy job.”

3) Increasing participation
“We already have a really good partnership in the city but that tends to be at the top level, such as between the chief executive of the council and the police leader.

“We want to build on that and extend it.

“Local government finance is not straight forward, it's not like a household budget.

“As budgets get smaller there are difficult choices to be made so it's important that people have a say over this.”

Comments(27)

rolivan says...
8:16pm Thu 17 May 12

With regard to Your Priorities
1.Would it not have been possible to build a tower that served another purpose for example A Water Tower with Restaurant at the top.
2 To even get Brighton and Hove anywhere near the likes of those great cities in Your lifetime would be as easy as winning the lottery without a ticket
3.Partnerships with whom Officials or RATEPAYERS?

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HJarrs says...
8:18pm Thu 17 May 12

Don't mess it up!

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Softspoken says...
8:40pm Thu 17 May 12

Seems to me age is a problem. In our youth we always feel we can achieve bigger and brighter and look to the horizon and the future.

As we grow older we start looking inwards to the real things that matter.

Now if you started your priorities of tackling street drinking, dog filth, seagulls/litter, parking, chuggers you could make a real difference to peoples lives and gain some confidence. Far more appealing than being comparable to Toronto etc.

Dont look out the front door until you have sorted your own house.

Your inexperience shines through in your priorities.

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george smith says...
8:53pm Thu 17 May 12

I suppose, it will be supporting the travellers, cyclist counters, sheep, grants to pride, and then fleece the old and vulnerable for more than where else in the country for their care.

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Idontbelieveit1948 says...
9:09pm Thu 17 May 12

Mr KK says “I really want people to see a different city so that people will know that we have been here.”

News for you KK they already do :

1) The place is messier
2) The travellers are more in number and here longer
3) Thanks for the protesters and everything they bring, we really like these.
4) Thanks for not carrying out basic tasks like cutting grass verges
5) Thanks for hiking parking charges to ensure less visitors
6) Thanks for raising sporting and allotment charges.
7) Thanks for the empty bike lanes

Yes we see a really different city since your lot have been here !

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ArundelTerrazzo says...
9:13pm Thu 17 May 12

Just looking at the face, would you put him in charge of anything?

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clearbluesky says...
9:21pm Thu 17 May 12

Would be interesting to know what businesses he has successfully launched, because there is a chasm of difference between launching a small vanity business and something that generates tangible wealth.

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hogarth123 says...
9:24pm Thu 17 May 12

Kitkat is certainly going about leaving his mark on our city. With his idea of thinking that by just changing a street name that will suddenly enhance a road is what my kids wmay have come up with in infants school. They have done nothing for our city and they all will be voted out come the next election.

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Maxwell's Ghost says...
9:42pm Thu 17 May 12

softspoken is spot on.
The priorities sound glorious, beautiful modern towers to view the fantastic spectacle of the city, birds singing in trees and beautiful willowly women on bicycles in car free streets.
Sadly, this isn't Bath or York, this is tatty old run down Brighton and Hove and the reality for most of us is filthy streets with a shockingly poor recycling service, plastic bags of refuse ripped open and left blowing across streets every single week which the council fail to address, run down family homes owned by absent student landlords, dogs' mess everywhere, abandoned caravans parked in streets on bricks, poorly performing schools forcing any families with ambitions for their children to other areas, shocking parking prices, beautiful parks ripped up and left as mud baths by illegal campers and hard working people who love this city slowly feeling as if they are fighting a tide of disrepair and despair.
Kitkat, you really need to get out of the Regency square mile and actually ask ordinary working people how they feel.
I guess once the tower is up, visitors can see the real Brighton and Hove.

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Morpheus says...
9:57pm Thu 17 May 12

I am sure that by 2015 we will know that the Greens have been here, but let us hope that they will not still be here.

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B G Gruff says...
10:53pm Thu 17 May 12

Good luck Jason, remember to look at old cpies of the argus and you will see that people moaned about the tories and labour before, so no change. I remember Bodfish used to be a real hate figure on here.

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bug eye says...
10:56pm Thu 17 May 12

mr. kitkat, if we want to look anything like barcelona or sydney we need to start by getting rid of the awful new city branding and bring in something truly contemporary. also the whole planning policy should be ripped up so we can build some 21st century buildings and allow tired properties with no architctural merits contemporary improvements, especially Kingsway hove seafront. ensure black rock and kingalfred get developed and the marina. stop obsessing over cars and provide park and ride and incentives for eco cars (free parking off peak). greens should green up the city with more planting especially around the seafront with its awful half dead hedge (hardly attractive or useful or barcelona) along the cycle lane that needs replacing. make sure the pavements are all treated with the same material city wide. finally we need a city wide campaign with keep brighton and hove tidy and do not drop litter signs with fines all over the city. clean up london road lewes road western road deal with anti social behaviour and stop obsessing about trying to house everyone that drifts into the city without a job. with more students than ever intended in the city stop the 100% c/tax exemption and charge them 25% to get money in the coffers for services they use as much as the rest of us, and stop obsessing over businesses cars and landlords that boost the economy.

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leobrighton says...
11:02pm Thu 17 May 12

How about getting all the moaners and groaners to move somewhere else that should be a high priority

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mutuality says...
11:33pm Thu 17 May 12

leobrighton wrote:
How about getting all the moaners and groaners to move somewhere else that should be a high priority
You are so right 'leobrighton'. Ignore them, they are insignificant, irrelevant and speak complete trivialism :)

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Maxwell's Ghost says...
11:39pm Thu 17 May 12

Goodness BG Gruff poor old Bodfish was unpopular with his own party and tossed out by the city together with his colleague sue John so your comparison suggests that KitKat will go the same way as he is facing the same outpourings of public opposition.
Yes, public outpourings are actually a good guide. Listen or be arrogant and ignore the public and end up like Bodfish.

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BrightonHoveboy says...
5:18am Fri 18 May 12

Hopefully Mr Kitkat and his wife will do a "Bodfish" asap. With all the loss of trade caused by the parking fiasco, the filth and "travellers" and all the congestion and pollution caused by the Old Shoreham Road cycle lanes they will not be missed. And why is he still here as his wife apparently considers Brightonians to be "inbred"(mentioned at a Council meeting). She must be a strong woman

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Kate234 says...
7:28am Fri 18 May 12

Well Jason says he wants to get the City talked up. He has already managed to do this very successfully. His party have managed to generate front page bad publicity over a bank holiday weekend in many national newspapers over Brighton's extortionate parking charges and effective tax on tourism. Is this what the City needs to generate jobs, investment, tourism and prosperity at the time when Brighton is facing potentially unprecedented hardship due to the Eurozone crisis. Is it just me but when you read this did you not just think that the best thing Jason could do for the city is lie in bed until the re-election. I am seriously concerned about the damage to the economy having the Greens around for another few years will do to the city. If they wish to talk up the city it worries me even more. Out of touch and inexperienced are the words that spring to mind.

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wole says...
7:38am Fri 18 May 12

How can this idiot be let loose with £720 million of our money?

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Crystal Ball says...
8:39am Fri 18 May 12

Will there be an embargo on Kit Kats now?

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fred clause says...
9:03am Fri 18 May 12

Idontbelieveit1948 wrote:
Mr KK says “I really want people to see a different city so that people will know that we have been here.” News for you KK they already do : 1) The place is messier 2) The travellers are more in number and here longer 3) Thanks for the protesters and everything they bring, we really like these. 4) Thanks for not carrying out basic tasks like cutting grass verges 5) Thanks for hiking parking charges to ensure less visitors 6) Thanks for raising sporting and allotment charges. 7) Thanks for the empty bike lanes Yes we see a really different city since your lot have been here !
Agree with all of these nothing has improved since the greens got in its just gone downhill fast

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inadaptado says...
9:05am Fri 18 May 12

Your wish have already come true. Barcelona is a decaying tourist trap with high rates of crime and incredibly expensive property. Sounds familiar?

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taman says...
9:11am Fri 18 May 12

“I really want people to see a different city so that people will know that we have been here.”

that comment said it all, well kk its not about what "you" want it about what the people want and judging by the comments on here and the ones heard every day on the street the vast majority of brighton and hove residents are less than pleased with the mark you are leaving on our city,voter apathy at the last election has saddled us with nothing less than an extremist
minority party running things

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peterthomas says...
9:48am Fri 18 May 12

The Kitcat aim of Brighton competing with the likes of Barcelona Toronto or Sydney, whilst good in that it's a positive sentiment, is presumably an attempt at humour, if not he needs to take more water with it. The streets around 07.30 in the morning are the dirtiest I''ve seen anywhere, and the current traffic/parking arrangements are farcical, made worse by the constant pandering to the largely delinquent cyclist brigade. Get real and keep the traffic moving rather than shutting roads to build cycle lanes, spend the money on copies of the highway code for cyclists, and put an immediate end to the obscene levels of spend on consultants! If the consultants are good enough to warrant their charges - which I see no evidence of in any improvements in the day to day managing of the "city" - maybe they should be in house and permanent/salaried rather than a hugely costly outsourced safety net for underperforming council personnel?

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Wendywoodlandh says...
10:55am Fri 18 May 12

Oh dear mr kit kat have you heard the say ( don,t run before you can walk) this springs to mind when you mentioned to be like Sidney / Barcelona .the council need to think hard to just clean city up 1 ,, then take each task on merit of need in city.

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mimseycal says...
11:20am Fri 18 May 12

Looking at his chin ... he isn't trusted with a razor is he ;)

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Fight Back says...
2:04pm Fri 18 May 12

This is the same Kitkat that gave an awfully embarrassing, political and vindictive speech at the start of the budget meeting. Yes, we're clearly in good hands !

So Jason, what are the names of the businesses you've started ? Then at least we could download the accounts and see how successful you really were !

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localboy78 says...
3:26pm Fri 18 May 12

He compares himself to Steve Bassam but Mr Bassam was the leader of Brighton Borough Council which was smaller than the borough of Brighton & Hove and all the labour intensive council functions such as social services and education were the responsibility of East Sussex County Council.

The problem with Brighton & Hove council is that it is too big, and doesn't work as a unitary authority. We need to scale down and go back to the separately governed boroughs of Brighton, and Hove, with East Sussex County Council back governing the higher level council functions.

The 'city' of Brighton & Hove as a unitary authority does not work!

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