The council leader “should go to Specsavers” after claiming the city looks “brilliant”, a Conservative councillor has said.
In an exclusive interview with The Argus leader of Brighton and Hove City Council Phelim Mac Cafferty praised the state of the city and said it looked “stunning”.
He said: “What people will have seen is how brilliant Brighton and Hove looks.
“If you saw that episode of The Apprentice, the city looked stunning - that’s what we want everyone who comes here to learn and to remember about the city.”
However, his comments have been slammed by Conservative councillor Dawn Barnett, who said that people have “lost pride” in the city due to litter, graffiti, and overgrown weeds.
Cllr Barnett said: “He should go to Specsavers. I’ve never seen the city be so filthy or look so disappointing.
“I grew up in the city when it was a beautiful place - it was spotlessly clean.
“It’s awful and disgusting now. A lot of people have lost pride in the city, and that’s because it looks so bad.
“If it was clean, I think it would stay clean, but with the overgrown weeds, graffiti and blocked drains, it’s as if people don’t care.”
She said that some schemes, such as City in Bloom, have disappeared over time and have resulted in the city falling into disrepair.
Brighton and Hove City in Bloom faced funding cuts but continued until 2019, run by a volunteer group. However, the group dissolved in 2020, with volunteers explaining running the group had become “complex and unsustainable”.
Cllr Carol Theobald, who has campaigned for City in Bloom to return, said: “I have lived in Brighton and Hove all my life and I think the city looks the worst it has ever looked, and many residents agree.
“It’s dirty and full of graffiti and rubbish, with hardly any flowerbeds and lots of overgrown grass and weeds.
“There is no pride in our city compared to other towns and cities near us.”
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Cllr Mac Cafferty defended the council’s record on the state of the city and said the Green-led administration had worked to tackle a range of issues to make sure the city remains appealing to visitors and to businesses to invest in.
He said: “We’ve removed the communal bins along the key business streets and we’ve upped environmental enforcement on things like tagging, because we know that all those things together make the difference in having key tourism destination companies understanding that Brighton and Hove is a successful place.”
In recent weeks, the council has also implemented new enforcement measures to tackle flyposting and stickering across the city.
Community protection warnings and community protection notices will be issued to offenders to help the council crack down on the illegal practice.
The move will see the warnings and notices issued to individuals, promoters, businesses or organisations suspected of causing the problem.
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