Big debate over human cost of Brighton and Hove night life

9:23am Friday 28th September 2012 in News By John Keenan, business editor

Ian Chisnall, Nigel Liddell and Andy Winter at The Big Debate Buy this photo » Ian Chisnall, Nigel Liddell and Andy Winter at The Big Debate

Is Brighton’s night-time economy tarnishing the city’s brand?

That was the motion debated at a Brighton Hove Chamber of Commerce event.

More than 100 Chamber members and guests debated the motion.

The event, supported by The Argus, attracted one of the largest ever audiences for a Chamber debate.

Andy Winter, chief executive of the Brighton Housing Trust, supported the motion and described the human cost of the late night economy.

He said Brighton Festival and the Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival were valuable but that problems were caused by some supermarkets selling cheap alcohol and also by ‘party houses’.

He said: “Party houses are not regulated like hotels, so they will attract groups who spend less in the city and more in supermarkets.

“I avoid going into the city centre at the weekend so my spend is denied to restaurants and pubs who would otherwise get it.

“If you live in the wrong part of the city, night-time partygoers can turn your life into a living hell.”

Party houses

Crime reduction But Nigel Liddell, manager of the Brighton and Hove Business Crime Reduction Partnership, denied the city is full of stag and hen parties.

He said: “Crime reduced 22% last year and we expect the figure to fall because we have a well organised night-time economy.”

Justin Manning, general manager of Queen’s Hotel, said the council’s planning system allowed too many late night off licences and claimed that the impact of granting licences was not thoughtout.

But he was criticised for calling self-catering guest houses ‘party houses’.

Michelle Stonehill, manager at Brighton Holiday Homes, said: “They are not party houses. Please don’t call them that because it is very damaging.

“Our customers are in their 30s and 40s. They are civilised people. We should be proud of our reputation as a place that people love to visit.”

The motion was defeated by a large majority.

Don’t miss Your Business on Tuesday for more pictures and reaction from the debate.

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Comments(20)

Maxwell's Ghost says...
10:52am Fri 28 Sep 12

Our customers are in their 30s and 40s and are civilised people....ridiculous statement.
I wonder where Michelle Stonehill lives. I might set up a house next door to her or park up a caravan.

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Fairfax Sakes says...
11:31am Fri 28 Sep 12

Its important that these sorts of topics are addressed in a public forum-a basis of good democracy. Also gladto hear rational thought prevailed, and the motion was defeated by a large majority. Now who's getting the drinks in?? (joking)

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s&k says...
11:37am Fri 28 Sep 12

Blackpool by the sea.

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jamevan says...
11:42am Fri 28 Sep 12

s&k wrote:
Blackpool by the sea.
Blackpool is by the sea as well

Report this post »

mustaphaLeeko says...
11:44am Fri 28 Sep 12

Maxwell's Ghost wrote:
Our customers are in their 30s and 40s and are civilised people....ridiculous statement.
I wonder where Michelle Stonehill lives. I might set up a house next door to her or park up a caravan.
Really Maxwell, and how do you know the ages or characters of the people who have rented them, or is it just a ridiculous statement on your part?

The properties the company offers are clearly not "party houses", and are stunningly furnished. I wish my house was as nice as them!

Try looking at their website before coming out with such nonsense.

The story clearly shows the manager of a LARGE HOTEL was saying something nasty about his competition i.e. self catering guest houses, and he was criticised for doing so!

Perhaps you should apologise to Michelle Stonehill.

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inadaptado says...
11:44am Fri 28 Sep 12

I hope there was more to the debate than this, because this piece gives the impression all they argued about is who gets the booze money from the party-goers.

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s&k says...
12:15pm Fri 28 Sep 12

jamevan wrote:
s&k wrote: Blackpool by the sea.
Blackpool is by the sea as well
Yes, well spotted. But the analogy still stands.

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Maxwell's Ghost says...
12:55pm Fri 28 Sep 12

oh mustapholeeko, of course it's a silly statement.
read it as a stand alone statement.
Is she suggeting that because people are in their 30s and 40s they are civilised?
It's stupid statement. There are plenty of people of that age who are animals.
The statement wasn't convincing from a business perspective.
A good business manager with a bit of PR savviness would say: We issue our clients with contracst which set out behavioural expectations as we take our neighbour's desire and right to a peaceful existence, very serously"
Instead she sounds silly.

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ToonDave says...
12:56pm Fri 28 Sep 12

mustaphaLeeko wrote:
Maxwell's Ghost wrote:
Our customers are in their 30s and 40s and are civilised people....ridiculous statement.
I wonder where Michelle Stonehill lives. I might set up a house next door to her or park up a caravan.
Really Maxwell, and how do you know the ages or characters of the people who have rented them, or is it just a ridiculous statement on your part?

The properties the company offers are clearly not "party houses", and are stunningly furnished. I wish my house was as nice as them!

Try looking at their website before coming out with such nonsense.

The story clearly shows the manager of a LARGE HOTEL was saying something nasty about his competition i.e. self catering guest houses, and he was criticised for doing so!

Perhaps you should apologise to Michelle Stonehill.
I live opposite one of these party houses - how else do you describe a property with 5 bedrooms that sleeps 25 people? It's not fun being woken at 5 in the morning by a drunken idiot braying on the door because he's locked himself out. Glad I now know who to complain to

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pperrin says...
1:07pm Fri 28 Sep 12

I avoid central Brighton because the parking is too difficult/expensive and the Greens have cut-back what little bus service we had.

Greens hate cars, make it difficult for them, so people with money (i.e. can afford a car at all) won't travel into Brighton, but spend their money elsewhere.

The Green element seem to have contempt for national brands - forgetting that they provide jobs for local people, and clearly provide goods people want at prices they can afford.

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pperrin says...
1:10pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Not surprising people are on the streets - with the smoking ban, everyone is up and down all evening anyway.

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bug eye says...
2:08pm Fri 28 Sep 12

the problem is cheap booze in supermarkets and so called off licences. most trouble is caused by teenagers and early 20s drinkers being violent, vomiting urinating or worse in the street, being loud and obnoxious. there are many organised hen and stag parties that are here on special events and to have fun not trouble and should be welcomed. holiday homes are well organised and legislated, how many times have we all been on holiday with friends to self catering apartments or homes and it would be madness to stop this in a tourist city. we are a tourist city after all and becoming more and more less welcoming with high parking charges and filthy streets. students and house sharers are already being discriminated against in east and central brighton and will be facing less supply and higher rents because the council are legislating further as they are incapable of using the existing powers, let alone new ones, they are a shambles, you could not make it up. I remember these sorts of extreme councils from the 70s, god help us.

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F in L says...
2:40pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Google Hen House Brighton (Sleeps 24) to see what we really mean to the rest of the country........ I nearly spilt my beer reading about 'harming Brightons reputation!' We would have to be Sodom and Gomorra to be any worse.

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Lewesroadresident says...
3:46pm Fri 28 Sep 12

mustaphaLeeko wrote:
Maxwell's Ghost wrote: Our customers are in their 30s and 40s and are civilised people....ridiculous statement. I wonder where Michelle Stonehill lives. I might set up a house next door to her or park up a caravan.
Really Maxwell, and how do you know the ages or characters of the people who have rented them, or is it just a ridiculous statement on your part? The properties the company offers are clearly not "party houses", and are stunningly furnished. I wish my house was as nice as them! Try looking at their website before coming out with such nonsense. The story clearly shows the manager of a LARGE HOTEL was saying something nasty about his competition i.e. self catering guest houses, and he was criticised for doing so! Perhaps you should apologise to Michelle Stonehill.
Well there are companies who do target hen and stag parties, hence the tag 'party houses'. I don't think anyone was suggesting all self catering accommodation falls into that category. Your comment was bizarrely complementary though- work for Brighton Holiday Homes do you?!

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Lewesroadresident says...
3:50pm Fri 28 Sep 12

How about this for a debate; 'Are pompous Chamber of Commerce debates about a city having a 'brand' symptomatic of societal ills?'

Really, damaging the 'brand' of a city? What a load of tosh.

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Valery Pointless says...
8:35pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Michelle Stonehill has 5 properties on her books that sleep more than twenty people.

http://www.brightonh
olidayhomes.co.uk/sl
eeps/range/20-30/

What are they used for? Poetry readings? Prayer meetings? Meditation retreats?

Looks like you'd have a party in a house like that.

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Maxwell's Ghost says...
9:28pm Fri 28 Sep 12

I hope that the homes are paying business rates and also paying a private company to remove waste as they are businesses.
It's bad enough that there are 30,000 students living in business properties which are not paying council tax yet receiving the council refuse service while all other businesses in the city have to pay private companies to take waste away.
Come on Argus, find out. Is this company paying a private company to take its waste or dumping it out for normal collection?

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gheese77 says...
7:57am Sat 29 Sep 12

jamevan wrote:
s&k wrote:
Blackpool by the sea.
Blackpool is by the sea as well
Yes Blackpool is by the sea

Report this post »

lovebrighton1951 says...
10:16pm Sat 29 Sep 12

we visit Brighton once a year to see family members and we rent an apartment for two weeks, ( no matter where we rent we are always waken up in the middle of the night by dranken people shouting)we feel sorry to see Brighton is such a deplorable state especially on the weekend with so many people drank walking (crawling) the streets, vomiting, cursing, is not a pretty site for visitors, or for the residents, you must do something about it???? we now rent outside Brighton and we don't go to Brighton at night anymore, just during the day. bring back Brighton that we once loved and was a joy to walk the streets. a concerned visitor.

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ReluctantHousewife says...
12:14pm Mon 15 Oct 12

I too live opposite one of Brighton Holiday Homes properties.

The problem that my neighbours and I have is not just about sharing our immediate environs with strangers every other week but the fact that this particular lettings agency position themselves as 'stylish' and 'civilised' etc when they do obviously cater for the big parties. In fact the first we knew about the house directly opposite us being used in such a way was the arrival of one massive party that went on for four days. A huge group of people that sat outside drinking, smoking and singing all night, insulted the neighbours and kept an elderly man in his house all weekend!

We had no one to complain to or ask what was happening because neither the houseowners or Brighton Holiday Homes had let the residents know that the house was now being used in this way. This agency promotes itself by saying it has 'emergency hotlines' and 'nighttime patrol cars' but none of us knew these existed - what is the point of having them if not communicated to the neighbours?

I don't mind anyone being on holiday and enjoying themselves and I know how important it is to the city but these 'party houses' really need to take into account the immediate surrounding area and ensure that the best use of that house is being made and taking the needs of residents into account.

Since we have found out who was managing the house we now all have a dialogue with the agency and hope we'll have no more trouble in the future but our relationship is an uneasy one, of course it depends on who hires out the house next time...

I did write about this a while ago here:
http://www.theargus.
co.uk/opinion/blogs/
9748934.There_goes_t
he_neighbourhood_/

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