Brighton & Hove: Thousands Sign Petition Declaring Greens 'Unfit' To Run City

More than 5,000 people have signed a petition declaring Green councillors “unfit to run Brighton and Hove”.

The petition, created by Brighton resident Adrian Carter, had enough support to secure a debate at Brighton and Hove City Council’s meeting today (Thursday 21 October).

The petition said:

“Brighton and Hove Council / the Green administration are causing chaos throughout our city.

“The decisions they have made are so detrimental that they are causing businesses to collapse and people to suffer unnecessarily.

“The council has not listened to the concerns of Brighton and Hove residents. Numerous polls have shown the majority are against the dangerous and ill-thought-out cycle lanes in Old Shoreham Road and King’s Road.

“These cycle lanes remain unused while the city’s traffic is brought to a near standstill.

“The city and its residents are buckling under the pressure of the Greens’ ludicrous plans, all of which end up costing the taxpayer tens of millions.

“The i360, Valley Gardens, Seven Dials roundabout and the removal of hundreds of parking spaces that were generating millions in revenue are just to name a few.

“This Green council is unfit to run Brighton And Hove. They are near bankruptcy but keep squandering our money at an alarming rate.”

Another resident, Andy Maclay, presented the petition, saying that people and businesses were leaving the city because of Green Party policies.

He said that Brighton and Have was a popular holiday destination but, just when the city needed people most, businesses were closing and people were leaving the city.

Mr Maclay said:

“The recent strike has resulted in pictures of Brighton beamed around the globe with piles of rubbish on the street looking like the ‘winter of discontent’ over 40 years ago.

“There was vandalism of the oldest green wall in Europe, and Brighton and Hove is nearly at the bottom of the national table for recycling.”

He went on to criticise the chair of the council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee, Green councillor Amy Heley, who leads the policymaking committee rather than running the department.

Mr Maclay said:

“The councillor in charge of transport policy is clearly not qualified or experienced enough to run a critical department.

“The blame is not hers. It is the Green Party council leader who has the responsibility for recruiting the best people to run the city council departments.”

He went on to describe the Greens as “obsessed with cycle lanes”.

Mr Maclay also said that some councillors had been living abroad – the subject of a public question that he asked.

He did not name the councillors, but his comments were linked to false rumours that Green councillors Tom Druitt and Alex Phillips had moved to France.

The pair found themselves “stuck” in France when the country went into lockdown while they were on holiday there last year.

Speaking outside the meeting, Councilor Druitt said:

“There have been a couple of quite ridiculous assertions made during public questions this evening concerning me and my family.

“We went on holiday to France in March 2020, to visit a good friend from Brighton who now lives there.

“It was supposed to be a five-day break, but while we were there, France locked down, and two weeks later, the UK locked down.

“It was both impossible and illegal to make the trip back, and we came home as soon as both country’s rules allowed it and travel between two countries resumed.”

Since their return, once lockdown ended, they had continued to live at their home in the city.

Council leader Phélim Mac Cafferty said that the city can decide again at the 2023 local elections.

He said:

“If people would stop talking down Brighton and Hove, maybe we would be in a different place.

“I have looked through some of the unsubstantiated claims. You say we have caused businesses to collapse, but when you look at business closures, we are behind the regional and national trends when it comes to shop closures through the pandemic.

“We set up recovery grants for covid-19, we have created a new employment hub, praised only last week by Conservative ministers, and hotel occupancy is at 84 per cent.”

Councillor Mac Cafferty listed a range of successes, including £11 million for a way to the sea, the regeneration of Stanmer Park, 200 electric vehicle charging points and the most council homes purchased in the last year.

In response to concerns about councillors living outside the city, Councillor Mac Cafferty said that if anyone was aware of councillors who did not qualify to represent the city, they should report the situation to the council’s monitoring officer.

To qualify as a councillor, a person must have lived, worked or owned property in the area for at least 12 months before an election.