Lynda Hyde wants cut of £150 million for CCTV on 'unsafe' part of seafront

Conservative candidate for the Rottingdean Coastal by-election Lynda Hyde is encouraging Brighton and Hove City Council to bid for a share of the funding that will be made available in the fourth round of our Safer Streets Fund.

The Home Office's Safer Streets Programme provides funding to areas most affected by crime and anti-social behaviour.

The Tory candidate is calling for the city council to put a full application in for better lighting and CCTV at the Black Rock, near Brighton Marina, which she says has become "unsafe".

She said: “We need to see this Council be much more proactive in putting funding applications in” Lynda Hyde said.

“It is very poor that the then Labour Council declined an opportunity to put an application in for Safer Streets Round One in 2020 when offered the opportunity and that this resulted in our funding going to Eastbourne and Hastings instead – some £893,000 lost. We cannot allow that to happen again.

“I am determined to see crime in our community fall, which is why I am encouraging Brighton & Hove City Council to apply for new funding from the fourth round of our Safer Streets Fund.

“Many members of the local community in the Marina say they do not feel safe in the Black Rock area after dark, particularly women, this includes walkers and cyclists. There has been some crime in the area.

“The failure of the council over so many years to regenerate this space has had a negative impact on the area, with large parts of the site looking like an industrial wasteland.

“A large part of the site has been fenced off for years, attracting some of the worst graffiti in the city and acting as a physical barrier between Brighton Marina and the seafront.

"As the area has declined there have been problems with antisocial behaviour and the development of other social issues in the Black Rock area, including the degradation of the city’s historic reading rooms and van dwellers."

Last year, a £100,000 scheme to improve lighting in the city centre in a bid to make the streets safer for women was approved.

Brighton and Hove City Council have upgraded lighting in the Old Steine area of the city, adjacent to the Royal Pavilion and gardens.

onservative candidate for the Rottingdean Coastal by-election Lynda Hyde

Further improvements to the city’s lighting will be made when work on phase three of the Valley Gardens project begins.

The money has been granted by the Safer Streets Fund, which provides money to introduce neighbourhood measures such as better lighting and CCTV.

Steph Powell, co-chairwoman of the council’s tourism, equalities, communities and culture committee, said at the time: “This is great news for improving the street lighting around the Old Steine area of the city that I know has been a concern for many people.

“We are committed to making public spaces safer for women and girls. The high-profile murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa and sadly of many more women before and since, is a reminder of the constant risks faced by women, which as a society we must address."