In depth: Estate is turning the tide

Youths and riot police squared up to each other as violence flared on the streets one night last April.

Walking along Whitehawk Way the next morning, where a few hours before bricks, bottles and stones had flown, there was hardly a sign of trouble.

Claim was followed by counter-claim, but in the air there was mood for change.

Inspector Paul Smith, of Brighton police, sees the night of violence as the moment the estate started to turn the corner - and it is largely down to Whitehawk people themselves.

He said: "That was the catalyst. Crime was decreasing on the estate generally but very slowly.

"Out of the blue this disorder came up and it set the community back, it set the police back but the strength of the community has been a real plus.

"Crime has been going down year on year but the rate of change this year, we think, is phenomenal."

Crime has fallen by 11.5 per cent in the 12 months just ended. Burglary fell by 28 per cent and car crime fell by a third.

He reckons the Whitehawk Crew Club has been pivotal in making a difference.

Lorraine Town and her partner Darren Snow started the club at their home 19 months ago, organising days out for young people. The club now has 180 members, aged 12 to 27, and operates from a hut at Coolham Drive.

Some of its members were at Lewes Crown Court yesterday to listen as friends were sentenced for their part in the disturbances.

Ms Town blames the police for the violence, but says things are now improving.

She said: "All this blew up and it was all caused by the police - there was no need for any of it."

But she is sure the communication breakdowns she believes led to the trouble are now a thing of the past.

She said: "If we had had our own policemen on the estate, which we are going to have, that would never have happened."

Policemen dedicated to Whitehawk are part of the Community Safety Team, funded under the New Deal for Communities umbrella.

The project, which began for real this month, is unique to Sussex.

Seven dedicated officers will work in east Brighton, with the Whitehawk officers based at the Wellsbourne Centre. Also in the team are probation and housing officers and a part-time solicitor to give legal advice.

Neighbourhood wardens will tackle issues such as abandoned cars, broken street lamps and dumped fridges.

The New Deal for Communities, worth £47.2 million in east Brighton over ten years, is the big hitter among the initiatives aimed at regenerating Whitehawk.

There are so many New Deals and Action Zones it is easy to get lost among them.

The Education Action Zone, which targets east Brighton, aims to change Whitehawk's unhappy record of having among the fewest young people leaving school with five A to C grade GCSEs of anywhere in England.

None of the indicators read well. Life expectancy in the New Deal area is lower than anywhere else in Brighton and Hove - one of the reasons being stress created by fear of crime.

MP Des Turner points to problems at Whitehawk's main secondary school, Brighton College of Media Arts (Comart), as one of the things which forged the estate's recent problems.

It is now on its way to coming off special measures.

Councillor Catherine Shelley thinks the recent good Ofsted reports at Whitehawk Primary School and St Mark's Primary School are key in making a difference.

She also points out the Community Safety Team, the Credit Union, the Wellsbourne Centre, and the reopening of the Valley Social Centre.

The Valley Centre, which reopened with the help of New Deal cash in February, was originally a church hall.

It became a social club in 1981, suffered an arson attack in 1994 and had to wait until this year before the money was there for local people to get the community centre they wanted.

Manager Bernie Dawes said there was a sense of optimism about the future, typified by the centre.

She said: "At the moment it is very good and it is getting better. People are doing things, they are seen to be doing things and they are getting results."