Businesses join shabby Brighton and Hove building clean-up

4:40pm Thursday 11th October 2012 in News By Bill Gardner

Improved businesses in St George's Road, Brighton Improved businesses in St George's Road, Brighton

Shabby streets are being spruced up after council bosses ordered a blitz on grubby buildings.

Earlier this year, officers from Brighton and Hove City Council told owners of dirty properties to clean up their act or face legal action.

Now many buildings are being given a facelift with fresh coats of paint and brand new windows.

On Western Road, the council’s planning enforcement team ordered the owners of 32 properties to carry our repair work to smarten up the area.

As a result, 29 made improvements over the summer with the remaining properties agreeing to make changes.

Improvement Martin Randall , the council’s head of planning, said: “When we speak to property owners about the reasons why buildings have fallen into disrepair, they rarely mention the cost of the work.

"It’s more about getting around to it and a lack of incentive to take action when surrounding properties are in a state of disrepair.

“However, once one property owner takes steps to improve their building, others have seen that the council is serious and have willingly followed suit – the result is a dramatic improvement for everyone.”

In central Brighton, enforcement officers are working with traders in Preston Street to smarten up the area to attract more customers.

Preston Street

Notices have been issued to six shops asking owners to improve the appearance of their properties and all have responded.

Over the past two months eight properties have been improved and others that were identified for improvement have carried out the works.

Goerge Shahata, chairman of the Preston Street traders’ association, said most traders thought the clean-up orders were a good idea.

He said: “We’re glad that the council has done this.

“There’s still a few businesses that haven’t done anything yet but they will have to soon.

“The street’s already looking much better so hopefully more people will come down here.”

In Rottingdean, an enforcement notice has been handed to four shops on the seafront, giving them six months to wash down, repaint and|repair the front of the buildings.

One shop owner has already started work to clean up their building.

The orders have also been issued to property owners in Portland Road in Hove and in other streets across the city.

Comments(18)

Joshiman says...
5:01pm Thu 11 Oct 12

About time the freeholders spent some money renovating their buildings.Brighton looks scruffy.I applaud this policy.

Report this post »

Bristol VR says...
5:14pm Thu 11 Oct 12

Perhaps they could start with most of London road then.. the first thing people see when they come by road from London is that awful disgusting shambles of a road full of cheap skanky pound shops and grubby shadowy boarded up buildings

Report this post »

bug eye says...
5:34pm Thu 11 Oct 12

I think anyone would approve of this, however having not been into brighton for many weeks due to parking charges, I did visit today for a specific reason and parked in churchill sq car park still the most reasonable, and was disgusted by western road, it had many empty shops and was filthy, it was a relief to get back into Hove.

Report this post »

kkj says...
5:41pm Thu 11 Oct 12

bug eye wrote:
I think anyone would approve of this, however having not been into brighton for many weeks due to parking charges, I did visit today for a specific reason and parked in churchill sq car park still the most reasonable, and was disgusted by western road, it had many empty shops and was filthy, it was a relief to get back into Hove.
which has many empty shops and is just as filthy

Report this post »

qm says...
6:00pm Thu 11 Oct 12

Couldn't make it up really. Council lays siege to the town, runs it down to rack and ruin through overpricing, mismanagement appalling policies, and then recruits whats left, barely breathing to apply a lick of paint!
Well bravo!

Report this post »

Nosfaratu says...
6:15pm Thu 11 Oct 12

My, the Council actually remembers that the visage of the City is as important as the revenue.

Shame they did'nt think about this 10 years ago as they did in Hastings.

This should be 'Policy', not a once in a while afterthought.

Report this post »

rolivan says...
6:22pm Thu 11 Oct 12

The Council needs to put it's money (15M loan for the i360 Tower) where its mouth is and start Buying up some of these waste of space 2 storey buildings and redeveloping them into modern buildings with both Commercial and more Residential units and then put the shops up for lease or sale with current owners having first option.You can paint these buildings until you are blue in the face they soon return to their dirty looking state from the fumes that envelop them on a daily basis.
As for ground level which is the Councils responsibility they either need to enforce a litter free environment or get more people cleaning instead of machines that cost a fortune and do not work.

Report this post »

Maxwell's Ghost says...
6:45pm Thu 11 Oct 12

A relief to get back into Hove.....blimey have you just come out of Broadmoor.

Report this post »

farang says...
7:10pm Thu 11 Oct 12

I was walking around the London Road area recentlly. The entire area reminded me of a third world country. Piles of litter and dumped furniture etc, shabby buildings, chaotic parking. The whole country's a dump! I can't wait to get back to the modern world - Australia!
btw - my pseudonym means 'foreigner' so don't bother slagging me off - I've endured enough xenophobia, from the so called 'locals', to thicken my skin.

Report this post »

lorrie1 says...
9:50pm Thu 11 Oct 12

Nosfaratu wrote:
My, the Council actually remembers that the visage of the City is as important as the revenue. Shame they did'nt think about this 10 years ago as they did in Hastings. This should be 'Policy', not a once in a while afterthought.
Agree totally, a survey done on a derilict place in Detroit.us shows this, They painted over all the grafitti and told local businsess to spruce up there act and as a result ,Trade picked up by 42%. When any where that looks run down it detracts buisness around the whole area.

Report this post »

rolivan says...
9:56pm Thu 11 Oct 12

farang wrote:
I was walking around the London Road area recentlly. The entire area reminded me of a third world country. Piles of litter and dumped furniture etc, shabby buildings, chaotic parking. The whole country's a dump! I can't wait to get back to the modern world - Australia!
btw - my pseudonym means 'foreigner' so don't bother slagging me off - I've endured enough xenophobia, from the so called 'locals', to thicken my skin.
What happens is that people that live in Brighton and never leave the place or arrive having not seen it before do not realise the change.People like you and I who have returned are mostly ashamed of what the place has become.I left again after a year but still care about the place unlike the transients that seem to inhabit the place now.

Report this post »

Maxwell's Ghost says...
10:27pm Thu 11 Oct 12

And as more landlords and amateur landlords buy up the stock and leave the place to fall into ruin, future generations will ask why their predecessors didn't take care of the housing stock and buildings.
Slum landlords who care about their ex pat homes in Spain being allowed to get away with it by a weak council.

Report this post »

farang says...
11:18pm Thu 11 Oct 12

Thanks rolivan, that is a good point.
When the land that a property is built on is owned by someone other than the occupant it is frequently very difficult to get them to part with the service charges to enable the property to be kept in a reasonable state. Freehold, which is a remnant of mediaeval times, should be abolished. That would also eliminate tyrants like Hoogstraten.

Report this post »

chrisso says...
11:36pm Thu 11 Oct 12

farang wrote:
I was walking around the London Road area recentlly. The entire area reminded me of a third world country. Piles of litter and dumped furniture etc, shabby buildings, chaotic parking. The whole country's a dump! I can't wait to get back to the modern world - Australia!
btw - my pseudonym means 'foreigner' so don't bother slagging me off - I've endured enough xenophobia, from the so called 'locals', to thicken my skin.
I've just got back from Sydney, where there was a big article in their Telegraph about the huge increase in slum boarding houses in the city - it's no paradise there either.

Report this post »

Maxwell's Ghost says...
6:41am Fri 12 Oct 12

And Australia is stuck in the 1970s so is only suitable for white heterosexual males with a penchant for misogyny.
I think lordenglandofsussex would live it.

Report this post »

farang says...
8:25am Fri 12 Oct 12

Maxwell's Ghost wrote:
And Australia is stuck in the 1970s so is only suitable for white heterosexual males with a penchant for misogyny.
I think lordenglandofsussex would live it.
and you think it's any different here?

Report this post »

Chieftain11 says...
9:39am Sat 13 Oct 12

Joshiman wrote:
About time the freeholders spent some money renovating their buildings.Brighton looks scruffy.I applaud this policy.
Agree completely but many areas of the south coast, towns and cities in particular, appear to be in long term steady decline. The money to make any real improvement to properties is probably not available.

Report this post »

farang says...
10:01am Sat 13 Oct 12

chrisso wrote:
farang wrote:
I was walking around the London Road area recentlly. The entire area reminded me of a third world country. Piles of litter and dumped furniture etc, shabby buildings, chaotic parking. The whole country's a dump! I can't wait to get back to the modern world - Australia!
btw - my pseudonym means 'foreigner' so don't bother slagging me off - I've endured enough xenophobia, from the so called 'locals', to thicken my skin.
I've just got back from Sydney, where there was a big article in their Telegraph about the huge increase in slum boarding houses in the city - it's no paradise there either.
I didn't suggest it was paradise, though outside the densely populated city centres it often is, but a modern country with sensible property regulations e.g. Strata title, rental bond boards and more.

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree