Plan unveiled to transform rubbish-plagued "gateway to city"


Plan unveiled to transform rubbish-plagued "gateway to city"

Councillors Jacob Allen and Jacob Taylor, deputy leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, outlined their proposals.

They said they want to work with Southern, National Rail and businesses across Queen's Road to spruce up the area and drive the visitor economy.

The area is currently a hotspot for rubbish and antisocial behaviour, with police regularly parked up outside dealing with issues stemming from the homeless community that are based there.

Jacob Allen explained that his role as cabinet member for customer service and public realm allows him to "really drive" change in the look and feel of the city, especially shops and parades, the seafront and Brighton Railway Station.

He told The Argus: "We want to focus on places where residents and visitors come outside to enjoy our beautiful city.

"There's a lot to do in improving our public realm because there has been decline in resources and therefore decline in what we can do to make our city look and be a nice place to be.

"Brighton is the most visited city outside of London in the south east, so we need a good gateway to really drive our visitor economy which is so important for the city."

Council workers jet washing outside Brighton Railway Station (Image: Supplied)

One of the new investments to the entrance of the city railway station is the anti-sticker paint, designed to keep the area clean.

The council said that a team was deployed to remove around 180 stickers from the front of the station in the last few weeks.

Cllr Taylor added that the council has also added two new jet washing machines to help with the heavy-duty cleaning across the city centre. He said that there's going to be "regular jet washing" of the entire station area.

The council has also added 57 brand new communal bins that will be make Queen's Road look "neater, newer and cleaner".

Cllr Taylor said: "Some of the longer-term plans that we are thinking about on that further stretch [Queen's Road] could include adding more hanging baskets or sorting some of the pavements out and working with businesses.

"We've now got a new city centre manager and that was a post that we created within the council. They are someone that is solely focused on coordinating all the resources across the council to focus on the city centre.

"One of the things that he's doing is engaging with all these businesses and saying how can we work together to make sure all of this stretch looks and feels fantastic, how can we support you and how can you support us.

"The welcome to the city from the station isn't right at all - we're now working with Brighton Palace Pier and other tourist businesses in the city to focus on exactly that and start sort of improving things and getting things going."

Brighton Station (Image: GTR) Tom Easdown, Southern's Head of Stations (which owns Brighton Railway Station), welcomed the council's proposal to work with businesses near the station and said that he looks forward to making the station a "beautiful entrance" to the city.

He said: "I'm immensely proud of Brighton Station and the crucial role it's played in the city's vibrant tourism industry since trains first arrived on its platforms in 1841, especially this year as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the modern railway.

"Millions of people's first glimpse of Brighton will be the stunning, curved, blue canopy as they pull into the station.

"Leisure passenger numbers this year are exceeding pre-Covid levels, and the station has been shortlisted for a National Rail Award.

"It's so important that we do all we can to keep visitors coming back to Brighton to spend time with their friends and family, visit the city' attractions which boosts the local economy, and enjoy their experience here.

"This year, we joined the Brighton Crime Reduction Partnership which means we're working closer than ever with local businesses and the police on issues which affect all of us who live and work here, and we've also funded a range of community organisations, like the Clock Tower Sanctuary, who help to tackle social issues like youth homelessness in the area.

"We'll be meeting with the council to discuss how we can all work together to ensure the station continues to be a beautiful entrance for the beautiful city Brighton is."

Southern has also added that it will be working with Kew Gardens and the Toy Museum underneath the station to develop a mural which will "brighten up" the area at the top of Trafalgar Street.

Network Rail said that it will be working closely with Southern to "improve the environment" around Brighton station as it knows what an "important gateway" the station is.

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