Latest news with #BellaSankey
BBC News
16-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Hove Beach Park officially opened by council leader
The first new park to be opened in Brighton and Hove in more than 100 years has been officially Beach Park, which stretches between Hove Lagoon and the King Alfred Leisure Centre, was approved in July 2022 and is now almost £13.7m project, mostly paid for by a £9.5m government Levelling Up fund, features parks, a BMX track, skate park, padel and tennis courts, as well as a new café.On Friday, Brighton & Hove City Council leader Bella Sankey and mayor Mohammed Asaduzzaman cut the ribbon in front of a crowd featuring people involved in the project, which was first discussed in 2018. "I'm so proud and excited about what we have achieved here, there are so many things for residents to do and it's already being so well used," said Sankey."It's been very much led by our residents and community groups here who had visions of how we could transform a really underused space into something that is being very well used by all ages."The project also includes a new outdoor sports hub next to the bowling greens, refurbished public toilets by the lagoon and wildflower and tree planting in the parks. Some areas are nearly finished and a Yellowave Beach Volleyball centre is planned to open in Van Gils Henderson, chair of the West Hove Seafront Action Group, said: "It's fantastic, a small group of us have worked on this since 2018. We were unhappy with the seafront and how derelict it looked."In partnership with the city council and the Levelling Up Fund, we managed to achieve all this. It's been hard work and a long few years but it's amazing to see it so busy."
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Five takeaways from Brighton & Hove City Council leader in hotseat
Brighton & Hove City Council leader Bella Sankey has been in the hotseat on BBC Radio being elected in December 2022, Ms Sankey took on the leadership of the council just six months later after Labour won control in a historic victory. She has a background as a lawyer and human rights campaigner, including working to criminalise modern day slavery and support asylum a wide-ranging interview, she spoke about her pride that her father helped to build the maternity unit at the Royal Sussex County Hospital and that she and her two children had all been born there. Here are five takeaways from what she had to say… 1. Bin collections Council figures show a 140% rise in missed bin collection in the city in the past six 2023, an independent report found a toxic culture mired in racism, sexism, homophobia and threatening behaviour at Brighton and Hove's Cityclean waste service provider, including an alleged death Sankey said while there had been "massive improvements" in service reliability, she apologised for recent said toxic behaviours had prevented adequate investment in bin lorries, and while other services around the country had moved to digital services, Brighton and Hove was still operating a paper system."There are still some incredibly bad behaviours, criminal behaviours, being undertaken by a very small group of individuals. It's absolutely despicable," she said."We are working with the police. We will not be held to ransom anymore in the city."Weekly collections of food waste, which make up a third of household waste, are to start in the city in the autumn. 2. Housing conditions Social housing in the city has been criticised for serious failings in fire safety and a huge backlog of 10 blocks of flats, fire chiefs have insisted on a 24-hour 'walking watch' to keep residents Sankey admitted it was "unacceptable" that the city's housing stock had got into such a poor state, but that historic tower blocks built in the 1950s and 1960s were posing a challenge to meet current said the council was "absolutely committed to being the best possible social housing landlord we can be" and was investing millions in remediation work and considering complete redevelopment and refurbishment in some said: "There's a whole series of measure now that we are undertaking to ensure that we improve safety, that we get on top of repairs."When things go this badly wrong, I think it's really important to get to the root cause of why it's gone wrong and ensure that it can't happen again in the future." 3. The i360 deal After Brighton's i360 viewing tower went into administration, the council agreed to write off £51m of debt to facilitate the attraction being sold to hospitality company Nightcap for £150, Sankey said it was "the best thing to do in a really difficult set of circumstances", because the attraction was "destined to fail" under the old model."Business rates can now come back to the council, ensuring people are going to that area of the seafront for the other traders there and the poor staff that lost their jobs when the i360 went bust, many of them have now been reemployed."She said the council had not granted a 75% discount in business rates requested by the new owners and had negotiated a 1% share of revenue from ticket sales to be shared with the council. 4. Royal Albion Hotel demolition costs Since a fire destroyed the 200-year-old Royal Albion Hotel on Brighton seafront in July 2023, the council has spent £1.2m on safety and demolition work at the Sankey said because the council had "ultimate responsibility" for the safety of residents, it needed to "come in almost like an emergency service" to ensure the building was made owners, Britannia Hotels, have so far paid back £500,000 to the Sankey said: "You invoice in stages. We've invoiced for the first bit, we will then invoice for the rest and we will get that money back."She said court proceedings were not being considered. 5. 'I won't be mayor' Ms Sankey said plans for devolution, including elected mayor and a complete reorganisation of local councils, would see "central government giving more power and money to regions".Asked whether devolution would suit Sussex with its mix of a city, towns and villages in rural and coastal areas, she said Greater Manchester – a city surrounded by towns that has had a mayor since 2015 – was "not dissimilar".She proposed creating five new unitary authorities, each serving 300,000 to 500,000 people, which goes against the government recommendation of populations of at least half a said: "We run a unitary authority, we provide 700 services. I think there is an optimum amount of people to provide those services to, so you make sure that you're doing a good job."Having unitary authorities that are quite tied to place and communities, coastal authorities and more rural ones, I think will allow the different identities we have in Sussex to be expressed."Asked if she would be standing for election as the first mayor of Sussex, she said: "That's not something that I am going for or interested in."I'm delivery for our city and I'm going to carry on doing that."
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Brighton & Hove City Council leader to be on BBC Radio Sussex
Brighton & Hove City Council leader Bella Sankey will be grilled about issues affecting the city as part of BBC Radio Sussex's hotseat Sankey is set to be questioned about topics including bin collections and fire safety in city flats and will have the opportunity to respond to concerns from listeners in a wide-ranging interview on Sankey will be on BBC Radio Sussex with presenter Danny Pike from 09:00-10:00 Love, executive producer of BBC Radio Sussex, said: "The hotseat is a fantastic opportunity to connect our listeners directly with local decision-makers and allow them to ask questions that matter to them and their community." Elected as a Labour councillor for Wish Ward in December 2022, Ms Sankey became council leader after her party won a majority in the 2023 local elections, ousting the then Green-led minority then the council has overseen a culture review at Brighton and Hove's CityClean service as well as dealing with the administration and subsequent sale of the Brighton interview is the latest in a series of interviews questioning the bosses of some of Sussex's biggest organisations including Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne and chief executive of the South Downs National Park Authority Siôn will also have the opportunity to ask their own can listen to BBC Radio Sussex live here.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rugby festival celebrates 100 days until World Cup
Over 100 girls from schools across Sussex are set to take part in a touch rugby festival on Wednesday to celebrate 100 days until the start of the Women's World Cup. Teams from 13 primary schools will take to Hove Rugby Club in a bid to get more girls into the sport ahead of the competition beginning in England in August. Brighton will host two games in the world cup, including one of England's group stage games, with the competition beginning on 22 August. Geraldine Brown, chairwoman of Hove Rugby Club, said: "As a host city the excitement is just building and we can't wait to welcome the teams and supporters." She added that it was "important" for the club to support the local community and rugby in schools. The festival comes as momentum builds behind the tournament, with over 275,000 tickets sold according to organisers. The event will be attended by representatives of Premiership Women's Rugby club Harlequins and rugby and mental health charity Maddy's Mark. The Women's World Cup trophy will also visit Sussex from Saturday to Monday as part of a national tour of the host cities ahead of the competition. The trophy will be in place at the Brighton i360 on 17 May before moving to Haywards Heath Rugby Club on 18 May and back to the i360 on 19 May. Brighton & Hove City Council leader Bella Sankey said: "We are so excited to be welcoming the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup trophy to the city this weekend, and we hope residents across the city will join us to celebrate this historic moment. "We are incredibly proud to have been chosen as a host city for the prestigious tournament, which will raise the profile of women's sport and showcase our sporting city on the world stage." The Amex Stadium at Falmer will host two games in the group stages of the competition with the Red Roses facing Australia on 6 September and current holders New Zealand playing Ireland on 7 September. England recently won their fourth straight Six Nations Grand Slam and enter the competition having lost just one game since March 2018 - the World Cup final in November 2022 against New Zealand. More tickets for the tournament are also set to be released at 09:00 BST on Wednesday. Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. The first Sikh woman to play rugby for England City hopeful Women's Rugby World Cup will inspire Beach renamed in preparation for Rugby World Cup Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 Brighton & Hove City Council
BBC News
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Brighton: Jubilee Library honours anniversary on World Book Day
A city centre library is celebrating its 20th anniversary on World Book Day by welcoming an award-winning children's from Queen's Park Primary School will meet Alex Falase-Koya at Jubilee Library in Brighton and learn about his popular book, Marv and the Killer band Silver Strings will also perform at the library on Thursday, while visitors can view a display about the library's history on & Hove Council leader Bella Sankey said: "In times when people desperately crave third spaces, when it's hard to leave your house without spending money, when it's difficult to find support and build meaningful connections, our Jubilee Library shines." "Equally important now as it was 20 years ago, Jubilee Library provides a safe and welcoming space for everyone."Readers, students, crafters, coffee lovers, young families, newcomers to the city, people seeking support, community or even just a warm space to relax in."The council said when the library first opened, it was "an immediate hit" with 2,000 people visiting within the first two the first Saturday the building was open, the library became so crowded that the toilets stopped flushing from over-use and the public lift seized up, the council to the local authority, Jubilee Library received 830,274 visits and loaned 218,720 items in the year 2023/24.
