The question must surely be asked: How is Brighton and Hove’s Green/Labour council coalition supporting Brighton and Hove businesses post-pandemic?

1. Traders’ vehicles can no longer park in city council car parks

2. Traders’ vehicles may not be permitted to buy a traders’ parking permit if deemed too high emissions or physically tall which unfairly penalises companies dealing with large objects such as double glazing. Let's also not forget ALL vehicles have to pass legal emissions tests yearly to stay on the road, so why are council taking it upon themselves to further penalise them for emissions?

3. Traders’ vehicles cannot park in designated parking bays after 5pm and often have to move their vehicles around before this if bays are limited in hours, taking valuable time out of their working day.

4. Traders’ vehicle permit charges go up in price year on year - to up to £1,400 in some cases,

5. Multiple road closures, new cycle lanes and pavement build-outs in the city centre mean the city centre has become a no-go area for some traders and contractors. Either that or they are forced to add daily parking penalty notice charges to their customer’s bill.

6. Unsolicited cycle lanes and road closures mean that it takes twice as long to drive from one side of the city to another since 2019, costing valuable time and creating unnecessary congestion/pollution. These road closures and restrictions continue with the proposed closure of Gardner Street and the extension of the A259 cycle lane, followed by a new cycle lane along Marina Drive and T-junction to replace the Aquarium roundabout at the Palace Pier, all against citizens’ wishes.

7. Many traders and contractors advise they are either moving out of the city or conducting their trades in other areas, with a view to moving away.

8. The greenest option of supporting local businesses employing local people is not being supported, meaning more contractors/traders will end up driving in from out of town, adding their travel and other charges on and not providing local employment.

9. Council are bringing in LTN (low traffic neighbourhood) schemes, despite the failure and even reversal of these in other parts of the country and intend ULEZ (ultra low emission zones) and the introduction of emissions charges.

Of course our Green/Labour coalition is going to claim it has net zero targets to meet, but where is the evidence that their measures above support these net zero targets when all their measures appear to do is cause congestion and more emissions, in addition to an exodus of local trade and business driving out of town, meaning importing their missing trades and services from further afield/at greater environmental and monetary expense?

Finally where is the local chamber of commerce? Deafening silence from them re supporting local businesses in this vehicle war being waged against them. Small wonder they are losing members by the score.

Laura King

on behalf of Friends of Brighton and Hove Citizens Action Group