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Threatened merger of Royal Spa Nursery Schoo - council plans to merge Queens Park Primary and Roy , The governors of Royal Spa are opposed to the plan on the grounds of educational standards and parental choice. We are setting up a campaign web site at http://www.saveroyalspanurseryschool.org.uk

Undercliff Walk - What next? , On the 26th July the Council will once again consider the Undercliff Walk and whether to re-open the western entrance to it or not. The attached letter needs to go to the Council from us all, so we can get our popular, highly accessible (by all – young and old, wheelchairs and pushchairs, etc) path open once again, which has been closed since 2000 ! A bit of History: As you will no doubt remember, the almost non-stop rains that started in autumn 2000 caused some big cliff falls. In fact there were two and the Council then sent in heavy machinery that winter to clear up and make safe. Unfortunately, the rains kept falling, right up to spring 2001 and the cliffs were extremely unstable and vulnerable to such massive disturbance and several more falls subsequently occurred; the worst, in April 2001, taking out the corner of Asda. The Council wanted to cut down the cliffs to a lower height, cut them back to a more gentle angle, totally mesh them over and generally apply some very hard engineering to them. As this is a nationally protected site, with the Black Rock cliff unique in geological terms, a public inquiry was held. The Result: The Inspector allowed the Council to undertake a more sympathetic engineering solution, involving rock-bolting and the Council has since spent £1million completing the job. The Problem: But, because the Council can’t “guarantee” safety, they won’t re-open the cliff path (so why spend all that public money?). The practice of many years has been to undertake risk assessments, usually in the winter, when the path can be more vulnerable. The Council has temporarily closed the path at dodgy times (usually when storms have thrown up shingle further east, where the walk is exposed to the sea; unlike at Black Rock, where the marina protects the path), re-opening it when the perceived danger has passed and after clearing up the debris. So, why can’t the Council revert to this approach? Hopefully they will, when they appreciate the strength of feeling – hence the attached letter. The Solution: Following the works there have been NO further cliff falls and we’ve enjoyed a period of relatively stable weather – no freak storms or six-month rain periods. There was a large protest (100+ people) last year to show the Council that this is a very important path for locals and visitors. However, it wasn’t enough and the Council put a Traffic Regulation Order on the path, closing it ‘forever’ – or until it chooses to rescind the decision. Since then, time has allowed a more considered approach to at least be contemplated, so the Council is once again re-visiting the issue. Instead of an on-site protest, a more gentle request could be made – the attached letter. The Council must recognise the massive popularity of this path and how much it is needed by local people and what an asset it is to visitors too. A letter, signed by many local organisations, just might get the Council to see sense. The solution really is common sense – to have an open Undercliff Walk, justifying the large sums of public money spent; and appreciating that, at times of high risk, the path may need to be temporarily closed. The attached is aimed to arrive on the Leader of B&HCC’s desk (copied to the members of the Environment Committee) during the week beginning 24th July – next week. So, your permission is needed to append your name and organisation to the letter. Please respond by return, certainly by the end of this week at the latest. Also, circulate it to other contacts you know (I have used an initial list to get things moving). Thanks in anticipation of common sense coming to B&H Councillors on this important access issue. Phil Belden, Brighton Urban Wildlife Group mailto:[email protected] Download Word document (letter to Council) https://hanovernet.co.uk/Open ltr 2 B&HC Leader.doc

Hanover Secondary Education - Brighton & Hove Council consultation , Attention all those concerned with secondary schools and Hanover children. Brighton and Hove Council are presently (Nov. 05) consulting all residents in the city on proposals to alter (yet again!) the policy concerning admission to secondary schools. A consultation document should have gone home with each school child (not found it? try the book-bag or p.e. kit bag) during the first week back after the October half term holiday. You can also access this document via the council's website, by phoning 01273 293474, or by e-mailing: [email protected] Your comments on the proposals need to be lodged with the Council by Wednesday 30th November 2005. In between time the Council will be holding information events at which all are welcome at the Brighton City Direct Office (Bartholomew Square) on 18th November (9.00am to 4.30pm) and another at Hove Town Hall on 22nd November (12.00pm to 7.00pm.) As one of the proposals is that for the purposes of determining nearness of home to Dorothy Stringer, home to school distance would be measured from a point on The Level,(ie The Level would be the site of Dorothy Stringer for the purpose of school admissions) Hanover kids would stand to benefit if this were to become policy. It is therefore imperative that Hanover residents make their collective voice heard - and you don't have to be a parent to do so. The Council hopes to implement its new secondary school admissions policy for children starting secondary school in September 2007 ie present year 5. What a pity this simple but oh so effective solution could not have been implemented previously!

Latest on Secondary Schools ... - Hanover kids out in the cold , Currently offered Falmer, Hove Park or Patcham Hanovernet has received updated information from a concerned parent. COMART is now closed, and Dorothy Stringer is presently out of reach unless a sibling is already there. Varndean has never really been accessbile for Hanover kids anyway and the situation is the same at Dorothy Stringer i.e. a sibling has to be currently at the school. Hanover kids are now being offered Falmer High. The only other (possible) options might be Patcham and Hove Park. Please refer to www.cause4eb.co.uk for further information and/or contacts Schools Admissions at Brighton and Hove Borough Council.

Meeting - Secondary School Admission Procedure - In Hanover Area , Monday 18/07/2005 8pm Queens Park Primary School The council has recently altered its schools' admissions policy and this has had a detrimental affect on accessing a secondary school of choice for parents and their children in the Hanover/Elm Grove, Queen's Park and eastwards to Whitehawk. The meeting is primarily aimed at parents whose children are presently in years 4 and 5 but others are of course more than welcome to attend. David Hawker, Director of Education, Brighton and Hove Council and Pat Hawkes, Chair of the Childrens', Families' and Schools' Committee will be at the meeting to hear your concerns.

Secondary Education - Hanover Kids , Fortnightly meeting of concerned parents Next one is upstairs at The Pub With No Name, 7.30pm Monday 9th May.

Secondary Education - Hanover Kids - Where to now? , Falmer? Hove Park? We received this email from a concerned Hanover parent:- "Unless Hanover kids have a brother or sister at Dorothy Stringer they don't stand a lot of chance of getting in. Stringer is always oversubscribed so who gets in and who doesn't is determined by who lives nearest to the school using a safe walking route (not as the crow flies as I believe used to be the case). The furthest a child has been allocated a place at Dorothy Stringer for this September is 1.88 miles from the school gates. I've measured this in the car. We live in Islingword Street and that's just about 2 miles. The situation might not be so bad if Longhill and Varndean also weren't oversubscribed. As parents can give three preferences for a school, if they choose three schools that are oversubscribed then who gets a place will be determined by how far they live from the school. Hanover kids are getting caught in this 'squeeze' so that none of the above schools, effectively, are now available to them unless they have a sibling who is already there. The consequence of this is that the LEA will offer a place at the nearest school that has a place - which in Hanover's case is Falmer. Whilst the situation varies, a bit, from year to year I think Hanover parents of primary school age children coming up to going to secondary school need to be alerted to what will happen if they choose three oversubscribed schools as their first, second and third preferences. From what I can understand there were only four schools not oversubscribed for Sept 2005 intake - Falmer, Patcham, Hove Park and Portslade Community College. So, in reality, those were the ONLY options for Hanover parents for September 05. Who knows about Sept. 06? Something very similar I expect." There is now some action following a meeting in the Pub with No Name on Monday 25th. Please visit www.cause4eb.co.uk for more details.

Farmers Market - From 6 February 2005 , Ralli Hall (next to Hove Station) Free Parking. Brighton will have its very own indoor regular Farmer's Market. At last, you don't have to stand in the rain to buy organic locally produced food. Location: Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas next to Hove Station (opposite Tesco). Open the first Sunday of every month 10am - 4pm- Free entry - Organic indoor cafe - Local Farmers only - Free nutrition advice. ATM opposite. No crafts! Huge variety of food and drink on show. Live music and fun things for kids to do. At last, the perfect location to healthy shop in Brighton.

Consultation Events , The team working on the proposed Home Zone for Hanover are planning events at which they can meet local residents and obtain their views. There will be a drop-in event at the Hanover Community Centre on September 24th & 25th and community workshops later on in November. Four roads in Hanover – Cobden Road, Ewart Street, Hampden Road and Grove Street – are under consideration for any Home Zone ‘treatment’.The roads around them have not been forgotten and residents there will also have the chance to have their say and have any questions or issues addressed.If you’d like to volunteer or find out more, go along to the events or contact: Peter Bloxham, the Council’s Project Manager on 01273 290000, email , or Jennie Leggatt, the TPi Consultation Manager, on 0208 464 8095 email [email protected]. The local Councillors involved are Joyce Edmond-Smith, Bill Randall and Georgia Wrighton – all available on 01273 290000. You can find out more about Home Zones by visiting www.homezonenews.org.uk

Newhaven Dieppe Ferry , Hoverspeed are replacing the SuperSeacat with a newer catamaran from 31st March - 31st October. Seats are bookable and there will be up to three crossings a day in the season. For information & reservations call 08705 240241.

Home Zones , The team working on the proposed Home Zone for Hanover are planning events at which they can meet local residents and obtain their views. There will be a drop-in event at the Hanover Community Centre on September 24th & 25th and community workshops later on in November. Four roads in Hanover – Cobden Road, Ewart Street, Hampden Road and Grove Street – are under consideration for any Home Zone ‘treatment’.The roads around them have not been forgotten and residents there will also have the chance to have their say and have any questions or issues addressed.If you’d like to volunteer or find out more, go along to the events or contact: Peter Bloxham, the Council’s Project Manager on 01273 290000, email [email protected], or Jennie Leggatt, the TPi Consultation Manager, on 0208 464 8095 email [email protected]. The local Councillors involved are Joyce Edmond-Smith, Bill Randall and Georgia Wrighton – all available on 01273 290000. You can find out more about Home Zones by visiting www.homezonenews.org.uk