Ship Street Gardens - Survey Report

[Simon Bannister]

Dear LAT members

 

In autumn 2008, the LAT requested that the council consider the potential for Gating as a response to crime and antisocial behaviour on Ship Street Gardens.

 

The first stage of this process has now been completed and the attached report details the findings and current position.

 

As I receive feedback from colleagues and partners – particularly regarding resources for some in the potential interventions described – I shall put together an action plan for consideration. In the meantime, any comments or thoughts provoked by the attached report would most welcome

 

Yours

 

Simon

 

Simon Bannister

Brighton & Hove City Council

Environment Improvement Team

01273 293925

 

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[SimonB]

Hello all

Following the publication of the Ship St Gardens gating feasability
report, I have recieved practicaly no feedback or commentary from LAT
members/resident (looking at my posting below, I might not have been
explicit enough in this respect) and I would encourage views and
comments from any interested parties.

Comments can be left as postings on this site, or you are welcome to
contact me direct - simon.b...@brighton-hove.gov.uk 01273 293925

Simon Bannister
Environment Improvement Team



On Feb 6, 12:59 pm, "Simon Bannister" <Simon.Bannis...@brighton-

hove.gov.uk> wrote:
> Dear LAT members
>
> In autumn 2008, the LAT requested that the council consider the
> potential for Gating as a response to crime and antisocial behaviour on
> Ship Street Gardens.
>
> The first stage of this process has now been completed and the attached
> report details the findings and current position.
>

> As I receive feedback from colleagues and partners - particularly
> regarding resources for some in the potential interventions described -

> I shall put together an action plan for consideration. In the meantime,
> any comments or thoughts provoked by the attached report would most
> welcome
>
> Yours
>
> Simon
>
> Simon Bannister
>
> Brighton & Hove City Council
>
> Environment Improvement Team
>
> 01273 293925
>
> Notice to recipient:
> The information contained in this electronic mail message is intended only for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed
> and may contain information which is privileged and confidential, the disclosure of which is prohibited by law.
> If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, please note that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this
> communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error please notify the sender immediately.
> Thank you in anticipation of your co-operation.
>

> You can visit our website athttp://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk

>
> Please consider the environment, only print out this email if absolutely necessary.
>
> Please Note:  Both incoming and outgoing Emails may be monitored and/or recorded in line with current legislation.
>

>  Ship Street Gardens Jan 2009.pdf
> 4703KViewDownload

[Tony Pol]

Dear Simon, Caz and I are immensely busy at present with our business.
We printed the full report off so we can consider it at leisure. It is
in
fact very long. We will attend to it this weekend. General comments we
have had so far are that it would indeed be futile and counter
productive to gate at one end only. Comment at length on Monday. Yours
Tony Pol

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03/06/09 07:20:00

[Thomas Mackillop]

Probably because, in essence the objections are obvious.

These twittens are important parts of the history and topography of our
town. I use them all the time, day, evening and night. There are no
alternate routes without a considerable detour. The people who live there
were aware they were opting to live at the very heart of a famously lively
town, and the value of their properties no doubt took this factor in
account, in both positive and negative aspects. While I sympathise to an
extent, the problem is overstated and the suggested solution is draconian
and unnecessary; and gating one end is absurd. If some residents really
find their circumstances impossible, perhaps they should consider moving,
rather than asking the rest of the population of the city to move for them.
In my own city centre square, anti social behaviour is a commonplace. I
accept it for the privilege of living here and considered it before I did
so. While extremely annoying at times, I try to keep in perspective, that
of the tens of thousands of people who walk through this square and enjoy it
at all hours, only a relative few abuse it. I would object to any measure
to make this area more privately secure, even though my life might be a
quieter one.

One method of reducing anti social behaviour is to encourage the use of
public space by everyone else. Low level crime is discouraged by the
presence of the law abiding public. This proposal represents the opposite.

There is no reason whatsoever to privatise public space in this way, and it
must be resisted. The city centre belongs to all residents of this City,
not only to those who live there. The unacceptable behaviour should be
dealt with by the police, the businesses who help create it and the Council,
whose policies unwittingly encourage it. For example, where are the public
lavatories in central Brighton on a Saturday night, or the moveable urinals
that are available in central London at the weekend?

Gating these spaces merely moves the anti social behaviour somewhere else.
Gating is not a solution, but a surrender of the public realm as we seem
incapable of grasping the real problem, which is the behaviour, not the
location of it. After this surrender, there will be further surrenders.
The vast majority of law abiding members of the public should not be
inconvenienced by the activities of the few. The problems should be tackled
not merely relocated for a quick fix, which as ever, is just cosmetic.

I object most strongly.

Thomas Mackillop
25 Russell Square,
Brighton
Sussex
BN1 2EE

[Member of the Regency Square Area Society]

-----Original Message-----
From: regen...@googlegroups.com [mailto:regen...@googlegroups.com] On
Behalf Of SimonB
Sent: 06 March 2009 09:59
To: Regency LAT
Subject: [regency-lat:67] Re: Ship Street Gardens - Survey Report

[steve larkinson]

For the sake of good order:-
 
The comment that people are aware of what the area is like prior to moving in is not correct.
 
Flexible licencing hours and the smoking ban has caused a seismic shift in the evening economies of the Old Town.
 
As an example, as little as 18 months ago West Street, (I know because that is where I live) had an evening economy which ran into the night; now the evening economy hardly exists to be replace by an economy that does not start till 11:00 pm and runs through to the morning.  Couple this with outdoor smoking and we have the seismic change.
 
And, over the same period, the night economy in East Street has increased creating movement of people across the old town.
 
And, over the same period, Oceana / Tru / Kulture have opened in their current guise, and Oxygen and Pasha have opened.
 
So there has been a lot of change.
 
Steve Larkinson
Chair

[n...@shesaidboutique.com]

Dear Simon,

I have not read through the report yet (like Tony and Caz i am
exceptiopnally busy). But i agree that gating at one end is ludicrous
and will create even more problems.

I can sympathise with all the comments made so far about knowing what
you get if you live in the centre, as i have for 8 years. But i also
know how things have changed i the past few years. It means that the
unsocial behavious is now all night long whereas before we could be
guaranteed a fairly quiet night after 1pm. Plus the smokers on the
street congregate and create such a lelet of noise that we can hear
them from Middle Street on Ship Street Gardens, where i live.

The noise really is quite unbearable on SSG especially Thursday,
Friday and Saturday. It has to be heard to be believed. And the
summer season has yet to start!

Rather than gating, which does seem draconian and i am sure has its
flaws, and will probably never make it through the consultion process,
why do we still not have visible CCTV (even if it is fake!), strong
lighting, big official signs stating the area is monitored, ad that
anti-social behaviour (including shouting etc) will be dealt with by
the law. And why are there never police patrolling the alley?

Cameras and lighting will certainly deter the people who see fit to
break windows, urinate and worse and vandalise property nd use the
alley way to dispose of stolen hand bags. Just recently all the
windows at James Hull's dentist surgery on the corner of SSG and Ship
St were smashed by a group of men wearing suits. Had they been caught
on camera they could have been identified and prosecuted. I have also
had my windows in my boutique smashed 3 times in the last year during
the night and i know many of the residents have experienced broekn
windows too.

Finally, i would like to say that a recent visit form the very helpful
team at the Brighton Crime Reduction Partnership to my two local
buisnesses said that we should not have to put up with swearing,
antisocial behaviour and even generally unpleasant rowdy behaviour
both inside and outside my retail premises. If we experince it we are
told we can report it immediately on our walkie talkies. If this is
the case for the day time, then should it not also be the case for the
night, when residents are trying to sleep? Perhaps all the residents
should start reportig this behaviour every time it occurrs. Maybe
then if the BCRP and police got multiple complaints from residents
experiencing this unbearable behaviour thorughout the night, then they
might be more willing to invest in better security and lighting and
police patrols.

I have offered to pay towards cameras as a resident and local business
owner and owuld like to know how other local people feel about this
approach.

Nic Ramsey

On Mar 6, 9:58 am, SimonB <Simon.bannis...@brighton-hove.gov.uk>
wrote:

> Hello all
>
> Following the publication of the Ship St Gardens gating feasability
> report, I have recieved practicaly no feedback or commentary from LAT
> members/resident (looking at my posting below, I might not have been
> explicit enough in this respect) and I would encourage views and
> comments from any interested parties.
>
> Comments can be left as postings on this site, or you are welcome to

> contact me direct - simon.bannis...@brighton-hove.gov.uk                 01273 293925        

>
> Simon Bannister
> Environment Improvement Team
>
> On Feb 6, 12:59 pm, "Simon Bannister" <Simon.Bannis...@brighton-
>
>
>
> hove.gov.uk> wrote:
> > Dear LAT members
>
> > In autumn 2008, the LAT requested that the council consider the
> > potential for Gating as a response to crime and antisocial behaviour on
> > Ship Street Gardens.
>
> > The first stage of this process has now been completed and the attached
> > report details the findings and current position.
>
> > As I receive feedback from colleagues and partners - particularly
> > regarding resources for some in the potential interventions described -
> > I shall put together an action plan for consideration. In the meantime,
> > any comments or thoughts provoked by the attached report would most
> > welcome
>
> > Yours
>
> > Simon
>
> > Simon Bannister
>
> > Brighton & Hove City Council
>
> > Environment Improvement Team
>

> >              01...       

>
> > Notice to recipient:
> > The information contained in this electronic mail message is intended only for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed
> > and may contain information which is privileged and confidential, the disclosure of which is prohibited by law.
> > If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, please note that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this
> > communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error please notify the sender immediately.
> > Thank you in anticipation of your co-operation.
>
> > You can visit our website athttp://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk
>
> > Please consider the environment, only print out this email if absolutely necessary.
>
> > Please Note:  Both incoming and outgoing Emails may be monitored and/or recorded in line with current legislation.
>
> >  Ship Street Gardens Jan 2009.pdf

> > 4703KViewDownload- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[peter1]

Dear Simon,

Although I have already sent you this as an email, I thought I should
post my thoughts to the group especially in the light of a last week’s
night-time mugging and violent assault on one of the residents of Ship
Street Gardens – I gather that this is one of several incidents of
this type to have taken place in recent weeks.

As a householder of Ship Street Gardens for over twelve years, and
lucky enough to live in heart of Brighton’s historic Old Town, I have
come to accept a certain amount raucous noise in this area on Friday
and Saturday nights when everyone is out enjoying themselves –
However, since the new licensing laws were introduced, the noise and
vandalism has become increasingly worse and now extends over a longer
period.

Evidence of vandalism can be seen on the lower windows of James Hull’s
Dental Surgery where the windows are cracked and broken from being
repeatedly kicked in - also the basement window of No. 9.

Bottles are regularly thrown over our high (2 meter!) walls into our
gardens and even a metal chair has come crashing over. The gate of
number 1a Ship Street Gardens has also been broken down. After dark,
the alleyway has become a popular public uninal.

Needles, foil wraps and other drug paraphernalia have been found in
the alleyway and inside my gate. I have frequently found handbags and
purses, emptied of their contents, thrown over my gate by thieves who
have no doubt been plying their trade in the local clubs.

It would suggest that installing gates at both ends of Ship Street
Gardens would immediately alleviate these problems. However, I think
the gates should only be closed at those times when the noise and
vandalism problem is at its worst. Namely, from 8pm to 8am on Friday
and Saturday nights – the effectiveness of this to be reviewed on a
regular basis. In the first instance, I see no reason for the gates to
be locked – merely closed at the appropriate hour. This might act as
an effective deterrent. If they do need to be locked, a push-button
lock could be used - the gates being closed and opened by a designated
resident or business owner in Ship Street Gardens.

I am against the idea of only having a single gate at one end of Ship
Street Gardens as it will form a cul-de-sac causing a large
concentration of revellers to be trapped at one end. This can only
lead to trouble given the enormous number of loud and raucous people
using the alleyway coupled with the already highly charged atmosphere.

I do not see the installation of gates at Ship Street Gardens as a
negative act and have no wish to prevent people from having fun. On
the contrary, I think it will have the following positive benefits:

• Reduction of vandalism in the historic centre of town.
• Reduction of places available for drug use.
• Reduction of places for thieves to operate.
• Reduction of unbearable late night noise disturbance to householders
(about 20) in this largely residential twitten.
• Reduction of areas where assaults and fights can take place.
• Easier for the police to monitor illegal activity if crowds are kept
to the main streets.

I think it is important to preserve the historic centre of Brighton
not only for visitors but also local residents whose houses, gardens
and small businesses are essential to the atmosphere and “buzz” of the
area. There has to be a balance drawn between the night-time economy
and the residential needs of the community. If the night-time economy
takes over completely, this lovely and vibrant part of Brighton will
soon become uninhabitable and the day-time economy will suffer.

Peter Farley


On Mar 6, 10:58 am, SimonB <Simon.bannis...@brighton-hove.gov.uk>
wrote:

> Hello all
>
> Following the publication of the Ship St Gardens gating feasability
> report, I have recieved practicaly no feedback or commentary from LAT
> members/resident (looking at my posting below, I might not have been
> explicit enough in this respect) and I would encourage views and
> comments from any interested parties.
>
> Comments can be left as postings on this site, or you are welcome to

> contact me direct - simon.bannis...@brighton-hove.gov.uk  01273 293925