Gender and faith in traffic

A survey about proposed 'improvements' for cyclists and pedestrians in Dyke Road, Brighton/Hove (one side is Brighton, the other is Hove) is currently online at http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/content/parking-and-travel/travel-transport-and-road-safety/dyke-road-improvements.

Apart from the fact that the biggest problems are illegal parking and invariably lengthy queues approaching the junction with Old Shoreham Road, this is another small-scale, piecemeal scheme that is largely cosmetic, adding little to the quality of life for residents or the attractiveness of the city to visitors. 

The main bus route along the road is the 27, which is also nominally a park-and-ride service. In other words, the one that visitors to the city are encouraged to use. What sort of welcome of a Saturday morning is a 10-minute hold-up southbound, even alongside the delights of Dyke Road Park and BHASVIC?

The survey ends with a page asking for personal details about the respondent. It begins with this rubric:

The reason why we ask you these questions is so we can:

• Make our council services open to everyone in the city,
• Treat everyone fairly and appropriately when they use our services,
• In consultations, make sure that we have views from all across the city.

The Equality Act 2010 makes these aims part of our legal duties.  Your answers help us check that we have met the law and help improve our services.

IF this is so, then, in the words of Mr Bumble, the law is a ass—a idiot. 

What difference does gender (male/female/other/prefer not to say) make to using the road? The next question is 'Do you identify as the gender you were assigned at birth?' A serious issue in some contexts but in a traffic survey? Do ethnicity, gender orientation and religion/belief affect motoring, cycling or pedestrianship? The only relevant issues are age and infirmity, perhaps whether the respondent is a carer and, in this unique case in Brighton, membership of the armed forces. (There is a TA base along this stretch of the road.)

If the survey results reveal that no gypsy, transgender person, Jain or pagan has responded, will that invalidate the survey? No, it won't. Nor would it if everyone ticked the 'prefer not to say' option for every question. So why ask in the first place?

Of course, the real matter of equality is between pedestrians, cyclists, public transport and motorists. To which we shall return.

TTFN

Saving the Hippodrome for live performance

This is the wording of the e-petition submitted to Brighton and Hove City Council to appear on its website. Assuming it is accepted, it will appear at http://present.brighton-hove.gov.uk/mgePetitionListDisplay.aspx

We the undersigned petition the council to  use its best endeavours and take every opportunity to bring the Hippodrome in Middle Street back into use as a versatile space for live performances in accordance with aspirations expressed in the CP5 Culture and Tourism section of the proposed City Plan (February 2013).

As a Grade II* listed building with an interior of national historic importance, the Hippodrome is the only surviving space of its kind and size in the city. It is top of the Theatre Trust’s list of English theatre buildings at risk.

In seeking to promote cultural tourism, the City Council should be aware of the need for a larger theatre capable of attracting top-class theatrical, musical and dance productions. The Hippodrome could be used in a variety of modes: as a proscenium theatre, as a theatre-in-the-round or with a thrust or open stage, or for ‘circus’ type of performance, similar to the Roundhouse in Camden, London.

Such a venue would significantly enhance the city’s appeal to visitors, attracting  audiences from across a wide area, including London, helping to make Brighton the principal cultural hub of the south-east region. It should be recognised that converting the space into a multi-screen cinema would not contribute anything to this aspiration. Indeed, over-provision of cinemas, leading to unsustainable competition, could lead to a net loss of venues.

Watch @DavidF_Brighton on Twitter for news about the petition going live.
TTFN

Transport for delight

The good citizens of Brighton and Hove have many bees in bonnets about various aspects of traffic and transport in the city: the 20mph speed limit, exorbitant car park charges, town-centre congestion, lack of a park-and-ride scheme, expensive and underused cycle lanes, high bus fares, parking zones, conflicts for space between cars, cycles and pedestrians, etc, etc, and, crucially for a tourist centre, the alienation of visitors.

Not only does this show how much the general public and local businesses are concerned about these issues, it is clear evidence that the city lacks a coherent and integrated transport, traffic and parking policy. Brighton and Hove seems to be slipping inexorably behind other English towns and cities.

This is not an easy matter, which may explain why successive administrations have failed to tackle it. Fear of upsetting one or other of the conflicting interests is an inevitable political reaction.

So I am proposing an Independent Transport Commission and have posted an epetition on the Brighton and Hove City Council's website, which you can access (and SIGN!) here: http://present.brighton-hove.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=398&RPID=10939932&HPID=10939932

This is what it says:
We the undersigned petition the council to appoint an independent transport commission to apply some bold and imaginative thinking in drawing up a comprehensive, integrated plan for the city's public transport, motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. 

The city's traffic, transport and parking problems are tackled, if at all, in piecemeal fashion. The 20mph speed limit, exorbitant car park charges, town-centre congestion, lack of a park-and-ride scheme, expensive and underused cycle lanes, high bus fares, parking zones and, crucially for a tourist centre, the alienation of visitors are all subjects of regular comments and complaints in the press and in other e-petitions.

All of these are symptoms of the lack of a coherent transport, traffic and parking policy. 

Successive administrations have failed to tackle the issues together in a bold and creative way. As a result, Brighton and Hove seems to be slipping inexorably behind other English towns and cities.
Effective management of the urban infrastructure is vital to the city’s future prosperity and quality of life. Too long has this been fudged and sidelined. Let’s make this the top priority at the next local elections. 

The petition will be considered by Full Council on 30 January 2014. 

There are no easy answers and no scheme will be perfect for everyone.  If you think this is a Good Idea, please sign. Tell others about it. Tweet and re-tweet. If all those who are unhappy about the various aspects of an unjoined-up policy were themselves to join up and urge the Council to be positive and adventurous we might get somewhere—like, around the city without so many hassles.

TTFN

What happened next

OK, so it's taken only three years and nine months to update the last post. For the record, you can read about the outcome of the successful campaign to save the Brighton History Centre at http://present.brighton-hove.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=83. This is reported to celebrate the revival of the Grumpy Old voter blog and as a reminder that citizen power can be effective. Watch this space.
TTFN