1. Purpose of the report and policy context

1.1 To receive any petitions submitted directly to Democratic Services or any e-Petition submitted via the council’s website.

2. Recommendations

2.1 That Cabinet note the petition.

3. Context and background information

3.1 To receive the following petition signed by 109 people at the time of publication:

(1) Lack Install Adequate Lighting in Tarner Park-

We the undersigned petition Brighton & Hove Council to Repair and / or replace the floodlights on the sports court within Tarner Park as well as the general lighting (lampposts) throughout the park. For the past 2 years, we have been asking the Premises team at Brighton & Hove Council to fix and / or replace the floodlights on the sports court. 3 are broken completely, and the one that works is facing the wrong way. In addition to this, we have been asking City Parks and the Street Lighting team to fix and / or replace the general lighting throughout the park. There are 11 lampposts, of which 3 are working.

The existing lighting is extremely temperamental, due to the power box not being water tight. The early sunsets mean the park is extremely unsafe for our attendees and the general public using the park. Tarner has worked hard, with support from the Police, to manage Tarner Park and keep it as a safe space for all. However, with a lack of lighting we believe the park will attract extremely dangerous activities such as drug use and knife crime, as previously evidenced. We believe there will be a serious incident due to the lack of lighting.

We run After School Clubs, Youth Clubs and Holiday Playscheme sessions 51 weeks of the year, working with up to 100 Children and Young People per day. We have begged the Council to help us keep our service users safe, but to date no action has been taken. The Tarner area is one of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country, and we are being let down by Brighton & Hove City Council.