Brighton and Hove City Council's city improvements

We’ve announced further road resurfacing work – with a focus on main roads that bear a heavy brunt of use and need upkeep – from Ditchling Road to London Road, to Portland Road we are working hard to ensure that it’s easier and safer for residents across Brighton and Hove to get from A to B by bus, bike or car.

Our roll out of food waste recycling continues to go well and it’s been amazing to see so much positive feedback from residents. Phase 2 of our weekly food waste collections started last week in Westdene, Patcham, Hollingbury, Hollingdean, Coldean, Bevendean, Moulsecoomb, Withdean and Preston Park.

Residents in these areas can now put all cooked and uncooked food waste in their caddies, rather than their waste bin. This includes unpackaged bread, pasta and rice, fruit and vegetables, fish, meat and bones, dairy, tea bags and coffee grounds. After collection, the food waste is turned into compost and soil improver to help grow more food.

Phase 1 launched in the east of the city on 15 September, and has been a huge success, with participation well above what would usually be expected with a new service. We received only 78 reports of missed collections in the whole first month across 11,000 households, and those were all collected within 24 hours. There’s been very high participation and very low contamination, which means we’ve already turned 40 tonnes of food into compost. This will be fed back into the soil to grow more food, completing the cycle from field to fork and back to field. People are telling us that they didn’t realise how much of their waste is food waste and so being able to recycle it feels good.

And we’re leading the way on biodiversity. A wildflower bank in Wish Park in Hove, part of a network of banks significantly increasing the diversity of plants and wildlife in the city, is being renovated and there's also a brand-new wildflower in Vale Park, Portslade which will create another biodiversity hotspot in the city’s parks. Volunteers from the Friends of Wish Park, the Wildflower Guardians and Changing Chalk youth rangers recently planted 800 wildflowers on the bank in Wish Park. More than 600 flowers have been planted in Vale Park. The latest survey of Brighton & Hove’s wildflower bank network found a staggering 554 species of invertebrates, including more than 50 types of bee and 191 species of plants.

And as part of our efforts to promote active lifestyles and health and fitness, we are refurbishing the gym at Portslade Sports Centre so residents can soon take their workout to a whole new level. The project, which is currently underway, will see the popular gym almost double in size, with upgraded flooring, improved audio, visual and sound systems and a wide range of new equipment. Toilet facilities are also being expanded and improved. The new gym is scheduled to open in December, ready for those residents wishing to embark on a new health and fitness journey in the New Year.

And we’ve also made an announcement concerning our bus fares, funded through our Bus Service Improvement Fund. We are keeping travel free for under 19s travelling with an adult, keeping off-peak fares at 50p for unaccompanied under 19s, we’ve kept the daily cap at £6 when purchasing online or at travel shops and we’ve managed to keep the weekly cap to £26 (up from £25) again when purchased online or in travel shops. The short hop fare is going up to £1.30 but still lower than the £1.70 standard price and the medium journey is going up to £2.60, but still lower than the standard medium fare of £2.80.

We’ve also helped fund two new express bus services, the 1X between Mile Oak and Brighton Marina and the 3X between Hangleton and Falmer, the running of the Breeze Up to the Downs 77, 78 and 79 bus services and increasing the frequency and reliability of routes including the Compass 37/37B, 16/16A, 47/47A, 52/52A, the Brighton & Hove Buses 21, 23, 24, 26, 27 and 46, the Metrobus 273 and the Stagecoach South 17.

This Sunday is Remembrance Day and an opportunity for us all to come together to remember the heroic sacrifices made by previous generations to defeat tyranny and secure the freedoms that we treasure today. This year, we’re proud that your Labour council has achieved the gold award in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme, the highest badge of honour for employers who champion veterans, reservists, Cadet Force adult volunteers and military families in the workplace. To honour Remembrance there are many services taking place across the city this week and into next week and I’d encourage you to see which is closest to you if you’d like to participate.

Bella Sankey is the Labour Leader of Brighton and Hove City Council