Our Petition Was Submitted to Brighton and Hove Council

On 24 March we submitted our petition to a Brighton and Hove full council meeting.

FFG committee member Jayne Van Rensburg took the petition to council and said the following speech:

“My name is Jayne Van Rensburg and on behalf of the residents and friends of Bevendean, we would like to thank you for receiving our petition today.

In less than a fortnight 460 people have signed the e-petition on the council website – and 323 people have signed our paper petition.

We are simply asking for the council to treat our children in the same way as it treats the children who use just about every other park in Brighton and Hove and help us improve the Farm Green playground.

Brighton and Hove’s statement in 2015 was that "we recognise the importance of play in the development of children and young people and we're committed to improving play spaces around the city to make them more exciting and challenging"

Jayne Presenting Our Petition To Council

This didn’t reach Bevendean. We are the forgotten corner of Brighton. The lack of action to maintain the playground has led to a slow decline rendering the park almost derelict, unsafe and with families unwilling to use it. This has led to destruction and vandalism of the remaining equipment.

Suddenly, 2 days ago some attempt was made to repair some broken equipment and we are extremely grateful for that, but more needs to be done.

In the Index of Multiple Deprivation, our area is approximately the 13th most deprived area in the entire uk. With 44% of children in Moulsecoomb and Bevendean living in poverty this is nearly one in two children compared to Hove Park and Withdean have only one in ten children in poverty. Yet Bevendean has nothing to offer our children with a rundown park. Parents cannot afford to take their children to other parks and with the reduction in children’s services too there is simply nowhere for the children of Bevendean.

But this is not just a group of mums demanding a playground, it is also a bigger issue surrounding Bevendean. With the impending closure of the Doctor’s surgery, demise of the park and increasing studentification this is discouraging families from moving to the area. This has far reaching consequences for the entire community and even puts the undersubscribed school at risk.

All we ask is that a modest sum is invested in the only outdoor play area for children in the whole of Bevendean. We fully appreciate the financial challenges that it faces. We are willing to work with councillors and officers on a solution that involves council funding, a lottery grant or income from any other source and we have formed a dedicated and enthusiastic committee to do this.

All we ask is that you treat Bevendean fairly and reasonably and give our children somewhere safe they can play. Thank you on behalf of all those who have petitioned you this afternoon.”

The outcome of the meeting was that our petition has been referred to the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee for further discussion in June.

In the meantime FFG are going to meet with CityParks and CityClean director Richard Bradley for advice and hopefully support with trying to improve the park. 

We are also currently looking for funding that we can apply for and ways in which we can fundraise, so any ideas are always welcomed!