If you are unsure what to buy a loved one this Christmas, help a street child in India by buying jewellery from Rosie Odette’s Ladli collection. She is one of forty artists currently exhibiting at the Claremont Hotel, Second Avenue, Hove until April next year.

Many of the artists live in Brighton and Hove. Collectively they are exhibiting one hundred and fifty pieces of contemporary art including painting, textiles, ceramics, printmaking, illustration, photography, jewellery, knit-wear, collage, mosaic and sculpture.

Rosie Odette is a jeweller who works and trained in creating bespoke jewellery in Hatton Garden, London.

However, from January to May each year she goes to India to source her gems and work with her manufacturers out there. She said: “I want to go and find my own treasure. I go to India to source gems and design them.”

As a practising Buddhist, a positive philosophy underpins her work: “I want women to feel beautiful and perfect as they are with their flaws. The concept and ethos of my work is about believing in yourself. It is about women buying into themselves and feeling brilliant as they are.”

Rosie said you can create wonderful things in the West but she was attracted to the healing properties of the gems found in India: “There is an energy behind the gems. It is the power of transformation.” She recommends the King of Crowns from her regal limited edition collection for men and women battling depression because it represents faith, hope and destiny.

Six drop ruby necklaces are available from her less exclusive opulence collection. She said: “Rubies encourage you to follow your dreams, helping you recognise the beautiful being within.”

However, Rosie’s business is not just about profit. She has set herself a target of helping 100,000 women and children in India by giving them the materials to craft jewellery at the Ladli Skills Centre in Jaipur, India. Ninety-five percent of the proceeds go directly to the girl at Ladli who made the necklace and five percent go to the project. Click here to see the Ladli collection.

Speaking about the street children she says: “It is not, oh, poor you! Those who suffer the most, they shine the most and they don’t forget where they come from. They do not have false belief or false happiness. I want to work with women, particularly in India.”

In time Rosie would like most of the people she works with in India, including her manufacturers, to be women and girls from the Ladli Project.

Hong Dam is a refugee from Vietnam and a digital artist who contrasts the East of her childhood with the industrialised West. Another overcrowded dinghy drifts off Europe’s coastline with another group of faceless migrants. Hong asked: “Are we becoming immune to the suffering felt by those with little choice but to leave their homeland? As a refugee, I am always searching for the promised land.”

“Having children took me back to my own childhood. I started to feel that my daughters and I live in two parallel worlds – the contrasts and conflicts of East and West – the wants and needs are so different. I decided to document a visual diary for my two children.” Click here to see Hong’s work.

Jane Sampson has been screen printing and teaching at her Hove workshop for fifteen years. She said: “Screen printing is a sophisticated form of stencilling. The stencil is put on mesh photographically using board not paper.” She presses blue pigment onto the board to create a velvet effect. Jane created the birds with gold pigment by printing a negative and leaving the birds out.

Jane likes playing with lots of different materials and uses vintage photos because of their glamour. She said: “There is a romance about old images that modern things don’t have.”

Franchacha is a digital artist using a technique called “glitch art.” She uploads photographs into a generator in her computer and then changes the code. She likes this art form because it is random and unpredictable with a different photograph, for example a magnolia tree, producing a different effect.

She said: “With glitching you cannot tell the computer what to do. The colours are not intentional. It is just fun. Random, fun, sometimes frustrating. You can’t plan it.  It is about enjoying it. You go into something and you don’t know what you will get out. I have a creative head and like to use it.”  You can see Franchacha art here.

Hove artist Joe Campoli teams up with Philip Nelson to blend glass and silverware into jewellery and ornaments. You can see their artefacts here.

Self-taught, Joe has a kiln where he melts together small pieces of different coloured glass in overlapping layers. He has different sized moulds that fit in the kiln. Some pieces need more than one firing. He makes a lot of bowls and plates, leaving the edges rough and natural so that his products do not look like crockery from a department store.

Joe said: “Sometimes there are surprises and I am not so happy. Most of the time it is like Christmas day.”

If you would like to make a difference to an Indian street child this Christmas, consider buying a Ladli necklace from Rosie Odette.

You can view the full collection at the Claremont Hotel as part of the Artists Open Houses in December, curated by Coralie. The exhibition will run through until April 2017. For a sneak preview click here.

Leaders of many different faiths gathered at a multi-faith peace vigil in Hove, primarily to remember those killed recently by terrorists in Baghdad and Nice, but mindful of attacks across the globe.

Terrorist attacks in the West always attract more media attention than those in the Middle or Far East and figures reported in the Washington Post are staggering.

That is, 658 deaths in 46 attacks in Europe and the Americas compared with 28,031 deaths in the Middle East, Africa and Asia in 2063 attacks.

It is into this context that faith leaders from across Brighton and Hove came together to pray for peace.

The vigil was held at All Saints Church on Sunday 20 July organised by Brighton and Hove Faith in Action.

Mahmut Gunaydin, Director of Brighton Dialogue Society, said: “We would like you to know that we vehemently distance ourselves from these attackers, these terrorists who claim to be Muslims. For cold-blooded murderers and non-human beings like them cannot be Muslims.

Prophet Muhammed said: ‘A Muslim is one from whose tongue and hand other beings are safe, and the believer is the one who is trusted with the lives and wealth of the people.’

“We would like you to know that these terrorists do not only harm people in the West, but also Muslims in Turkey, Beirut, and many other majority Muslim countries.

“In the holy book of the Muslims, the Qur’an, it says: ‘Whoever kills an innocent person, it is as if he has killed all mankind, and whoever saves one, it is as if he has saved the whole of mankind.’

“As a Dialogue Society we believe that no religion that claims to be Divine – be it Judaism, Christianity or Islam – can contain tyranny, cruelty or atrocity towards other beings in any way. There is absolutely no justification for such behaviour.

Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah from Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue offered words of comfort from the 18^th century Rabbi, Nachman of Bratslav (1772-1810) who taught:

‘Kol ha-olam, kulo, gesher tzar m’od, v’ha-ikar lo l’phacheid k’lal.

‘All the world, all of it, is a very narrow bridge, but the essential thing is never to be afraid.’

Rabbi Tikvah asked: “What did he mean? How can we not be afraid if ‘All the world, all of it, is a very narrow bridge’?

“Perhaps, because a bridge, however narrow, represents a possibility; the possibility that we can journey across the abyss. A bridge is like a lifeline, summoning us to hold on and keep going, whatever the circumstances, however terrified we feel. Whatever the risks of falling into the abyss, a bridge beckons us to step forward; to take one step after another, after another, in the hope that we will reach the other side.

“A bridge is also a tangible representation of the courage of the bridge-builders. With very rare exceptions, bridges are not natural phenomena: Before we are able to begin our crossing, the bridge has to be there, it has to be built.

“And so, a bridge reminds us of those who went before us; of those who managed their fears.”

Councillor Phelim MacCafferty said: “It is at times like these, when there are no words or actions that will do these unspeakable tragedies justice; that we must turn to those around us to seek solace and send our love and solidarity to the families and friends of those who have died.

“When the world seems increasingly divided, when hate and violence seem to be growing in all corners, we must confront them with warmth and hope.

“We must continue to show the world that the spirit of love and compassion will never be dimmed.

We will not be afraid, we will walk on together and stronger.”

Councillor Emma Daniels, Chair of the Neighbourhood, Communities and Equalities Committee taught her children and many others: “Being kind is always more important than being right.”

In her refusal to give up her idealism, she quoted Anne Frank and then gave faith leaders and residents of Brighton and Hove this challenge: “We must focus on the lost children of Europe, the refugee children lost to services and alone.

“And I must do everything I can to ensure we provide sanctuary and hope to them.

“I ask all the Faith Leaders here to please ask their communities to come forward if they have space and love and are able to provide a home for a child who needs it and to encourage them to sign up as foster parents.

“Our city must have the spirit of sanctuary in a world of pain.”

You can read the full text of the speeches here.

This article was first published on Thursday 22 July in Brighton and Hove News.

Grassroots, a Brighton mental health charity, has developed what is believed to be the first suicide prevention free mobile phone app called StayAlive.

The charity aims to raise £20,000 to improve vital support for vulnerable people at risk of taking their lives.

It launched its crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds on World Suicide Prevention Day 2016 today (Saturday 10 September) at the Synergy Centre, in West Street, Brighton.

Brighton and Hove has had a higher rate of deaths by suicide than the national average for more than a century and is currently ranked 136 of 144 local authorities for suicide rates.

Councillor Dick Page, the Green Party’s spokesman for health and wellbeing at Brighton and Hove City Council, said: “While we as councillors have a duty to ensure support is maintained to keep people safe from self-harm, abuse and neglect, we are increasingly reliant on the ground-breaking and practical work of Grassroots.

“As individuals we all must share responsibility for recognising and responding to our fellow residents who may be in need of help. A friendly word or show of support is free, yet can sometimes make all the difference to people going through a difficult time.”

StayAlive is a free, nationwide pocket resource on your mobile phone, packed with useful information to help people at risk of suicide and anyone who knows someone at risk of suicide. It includes

• My Safety Plan that is an advance agreement of steps to take if you become unwell
• My Lifebox full of photographs of family and friends
• Reasons for living and self-help ideas – this is about what works for you
• Looking after yourself which is about having compassion for yourself, knowing when to stop and checking you are not over-tired or hungry
• Where to find help in your local area including counselling
• Breathing exercises and grounding techniques

Grassroots chief executive Miranda Frost said: “Our vision is that no one has to contemplate suicide alone. The app is a big part of giving a lifeline to those at risk of suicide. With your help and donations StayAlive can become more effective and will help even more people at risk. It’s quick and easy to donate essential funds. You’re just a few clicks away from saving a life.”

A recent survey of StayAlive suggested that 76 per cent of users who have used the app used it to help someone else stay safe from suicide. The survey indicated that its most useful feature was the “safety plan”.

Since its release in 2014, the app has been downloaded more than 16,000 times, won multiple awards and has been included as a “national inspiration” on the Crisis Concordat website.

StayAlive is available in app stores. It is currently a private, personal and portable resource but the next phase of its development may allow app users to connect with others and share experiences.

The council’s lead member for mental health, Councillor Caroline Penn, said: “The StayAlive app developed by Grassroots plays a very important role in suicide prevention. It provides immediate support for those considering suicide as well as advice for those concerned about a friend or family member.

“We can all play our part in supporting those experiencing suicidal thoughts. If we talk and most importantly listen, we can work together to keep our friends, family and community safe.”

Grassroots Suicide Prevention teaches suicide alertness and intervention skills to community members and professionals with the aim to make our communities safer from suicide. The charity is supported by the council.

To find out more about how to donate to help fund the app, click here.

Councillor Penn said that anyone who was worried about someone they know could download the StayAlive app to a private device, call the Samaritans on 08457 909090 or the Mental Health Rapid Response Service on 01273 242220. Both telephone lines are available 24 hours a day.

Other mental health charities include MIND and Brighton and Hove Carers Centre.

Twelve longest-serving Cooperative nursery staff at the University of Sussex were threatened with a change to their contract in spite of 187 combined years service in early August.

You can read more information about this issue in an article first published by Brighton and Hove News on 12 August.

Less than a week later, by  Thursday 18 August, Cooperative Childcare offered better terms to their most loyal nursery staff by doubling their consolidation package. Nursery staff may still leave. More details here.

Brighton GCSE students buck the national trend

Longhill High School is proud to buck the national trend of a falling A* to C pass rate. More than half Longhill’s students, 56 per cent, achieved 5 A* to C grades including English and Maths. Students from Longhill High School improved their GCSE results by six points since last year.

Alfie Hammond got four As, three Bs and two C grades. He said: “I feel quite chuffed. I am very happy.”

Next year he will take biology, chemistry and economics A levels at BHASVIC.

Alisha Gilbert is really happy too, particularly for getting an A in English literature and a B in English language against the odds. She will join Alfie at BHASVIC to study maths, chemistry and physics.

You can read more about Longhill success stories here.

Dorothy Stringer students compete with Cardinal Newman for top GCSE results in Brighton and Hove

Dorothy Stringer School outperformed all other state schools in their GCSE results, beaten only by rival faith school Cardinal Newman.

Yian Zeng was the top performing student at Dorothy Stringer.  As well as achieving 13 A* grades at GCSE, she also secured AS results in philosophy and ethics and Chinese as well as an A in additional mathematicsFSMQ.

Zoe Alexander got ten A* grades and an A. She said: “I feel relieved and happy. I am very surprised as well. It was a lot of hard work.”

One of Zoe’s teachers said: “You could not get anybody who has worked harder for her results.”

You can read more details at Brighton and Hove News here.

Best ever GCSE results for Varndean School

Students at Varndean School have improved their GCSE exam results with 61 per cent of students gaining five A* to C GCSE passes, including English and mathematics.

Nine students achieved ten or more A* or A grades and almost 20 per cent of all students achieved five or more A* or A grades.

Forty per cent of all grades awarded were A* to B and three students achieved a Level 3 extended project qualification usually reserved for sixth form students, two of whom achieved A grades.

More details at Brighton and Hove News here.

On Thursday 14 July the Labour Party suspended Brighton and Hove branch until after the leadership election according to the Guardian.

The Labour Party in Brighton and Hove held a momentum rally on Tuesday 02 August 2016 and members and supporters thought Mr Corbyn may come to speak.

At a Labour member only meeting after the rally on 02 August, I think in a recount, six “Keep Corbyn” candidates were elected to Brighton and Hove’s Labour Party executive committee and one position was declared later bringing the “Keep Corbyn” candidates to seven. Five candidates from the right wing of the Labour Party were elected.

Across the UK, this pattern was replicated with 82% (or 71 out of 87) Labour Party branches passing motions in support of Mr Corbyn.

His supporters and the Momentum movement took three of five key positions in Brighton and Hove: Chair, Mark Sandell, Treasurer, Claire Wadey and Secretary, Greg Hadfield.

Brighton’s Mr Hadfield said: “This is the biggest turnout of the biggest party unit supporting Jeremy Corbyn with the biggest majority in England. It has been the most exciting day of my political life.”

Other candidates already elected were Anne Pissaridou as Vice Chair (campaigns) and Christine Robinson as Vice Chair (membership.) Remaining posts will be announced on Monday including candidate Daniel Harris who said: “This is a turnout for democracy today.”

Just over 600 Labour party members (15%) from three constituencies voted for their national executive committee by a ratio of 2:1 in favour of pro-Corbyn candidates at City College.

At the AGM which followed the Keep Corbyn rally, voting did not finish until 6pm, three hours after members arrived to vote.  A planned two hour hustings for members at the AGM was compressed into three successive half hour sessions because of high turnout.

A pro-Corbyn “City Party” will now seek to hold to account the main reforming “progress” wing of the Brighton and Hove Labour Party pioneered by Tony Blair.

Nationally the Labour Party remains divided. Only 38 members of the Parliamentary Labour Party now support Mr Corbyn.

Without support from 51 MPs in Parliament, Mr Corbyn may not be able to stand as a candidate in the next Labour leadership election.

Hove MP Peter Kyle cast his vote in the ballot at the Brighton and Hove AGM last Saturday but did not comment at that time.

He has already said publicly that he does not support Mr Corbyn and will therefore back Angela Eagle MP to become the next leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party by default, unless other candidates such as Owen Smith come forward.

Labour’s National Executive Committee may introduce a cut-off point for joining the party, ostensibly to prevent vote-rigging by people from other parties joining the Labour Party, who may distort the result.

It is likely that only one candidate will stand against Mr Corbyn because the reform or progress wing within the party needs to unite their supporters. Two national contenders would split the reform vote.

Party Activist Kate Knight said: “I am incensed by what appears to be the contempt of the Parliamentary Labour Party for democracy.”

Ms Knight said seven hundred and fifteen new members had joined the Labour Party since the EU referendum two weeks ago from Goldsmid and Hove Park wards in Hove.

Danielle Spencer from Hove was a humanitarian aid worker in Somalia who returned to England specifically to get involved in Momentum.

As a labour supporter, she is very distressed by austerity and said: “People are oppressed by it, austerity is unjust, unfair and unwarranted.

“I came back very disillusioned with the way the Labour Party was progressing and not protecting the rights of the people that it was set up to protect and defend.

“I thought people would unite. The country is in the greatest need, now the Parliamentary Labour Party is not listening to Labour Party members.

“Labour activists are rooting for Mr Corbyn and the councillors need to dedicate themselves to the people who voted for them.

“The Parliamentary Labour Party has ignored the public feeling during the war in Iraq. The war created voter apathy, disaffection and distrust.

“Now people are interested in politics again but I am not sure the Labour Party can survive.

“Prejudice at the BBC is another issue. I used to work in communications there. It is not reporting Mr Corbyn fairly. It is confused and twisted.

“The BBC’s job is to inform, educate and instruct. It is not there to take sides.”

Hove’s businesswoman Jo Dance joined a political party, Labour, in the last fortnight for the first time.

She said: “I’m really saddened by all the anti-Corbyn feeling in the parliamentary party at the moment. I, like many others, felt the Labour party in recent years had become a kind of ‘Tory Light’. I was totally against the war in Iraq, and took to the streets in London at the time to protest against that.

“I feel at odds with some policies that Peter Kyle my local MP has been supporting, (Syria for example), and I really hope that this new momentum (of Momentum!) can carry Mr Corbyn through.”

Under Mr Corbyn’s leadership Labour membership has grown exponentially to 500,000 members.

MPs from the Parliamentary Labour Party ignore Mr Corbyn’s electoral mandate at their peril. To have any hope of electoral success, Labour reformers must argue about policies rather than personalities and win the argument, not just in Parliament, but in labour branches, unions and affiliated organisations throughout the United Kingdom.

Scores of Hove residents met to view the next stage of plans and find innovative solutions to some of the most intractable problems facing developers when regenerating Hove Station and the surrounding area.

Hove Station Neighbourhood Forum held the meeting yesterday (Sunday 3 July.)

As a strategic development area, there are conditions set by Brighton and Hove City Council in the City Plan. These include the goal of a mixed-use development with residential units and office space. The aim is to attract investment and new employment opportunities into the area.

Planning proposals include building several mid-rise blocks of flats to act as a focal point and identifier in Conway Street near the Clarendon Road flats. A pedestrian area may be created around Ellen Street and Conway Street if planning permission is granted.

Fonthill Road may close to ease congestion. No decision has been taken yet. Early discussions are under way about the possibility of building a school at the postal sorting office site in Denmark Villas.

The City Plan says the neighbourhood plans must provide a minimum of 525 residential units and at least 22,000 square metres of office space which is an extra 12,000 square metres.

There are currently three major projects on the table:

• Hove Station area: The factory on the corner of Goldstone Lane is about to be demolished by Hyde Group which will build 65 new homes by August 2018.
• Hove Gardens: Matsim will apply for planning permission soon to build 190 homes alongside retail and office space at Conway Street and create a Hove Station Quarter.
• Sackville Gardens: Mountpark will apply for permission to build 600 to 700 new homes and office space from 2017 onwards on the Sackville Trading Estate and coalyard site which it is calling Sackville Gardens – also and separately the name of a road leading to Hove seafront.

Valerie Paynter, from Save Hove, who campaigned against a high-rise development on the old Sackville Hotel site on Hove seafront, said: “The area south of Hove Station is excellent for development near the Clarendon flats because there is no overshadowing.”

A Hove resident who does not wish to be named said: “Last year there was a lot of high-value properties built which attracted commuters, not local residents.”

Niall O’Hea, from Shakespeare Road, in Poet’s Corner, said: “Since the referendum people are more interested. You can have a say in your future. Lots of stuff is getting passed. There is apathy. Planning seems very complicated because it happens behind closed doors. It is difficult to get information but the referendum has woken people up.

“I had the challenge of getting trees in the street. You have to canvass. People can object. They have good processes to stop things. It is very hard to create things. One person can stop a process. Sometimes the benefit is of the greater good as opposed to your opinion.”

Many concerns were raised at the meeting about transport, traffic congestion which may result from closing Fonthill Road, parking and the need for accessible, functioning footbridges that are compliant with disability legislation.

Retired professor of urban planning and Hove resident Mike Gibson said that the forum would convene a separate subgroup on transport. This will feed into a statutory transport assessment produced by the council.

The forum provides Hove residents and businesses with a legal framework to influence the large-scale regeneration of the area, known as Development Area 6 in the City Plan, and they are developing a neighbourhood plan.

Mr Gibson, head of planning at London South Bank University, said: “Planning can be a fragmented process. The neighbourhood plan is to join it all up. Everyone in the area votes at the end of five years. The forum enables residents to get the ear of developers before they put in a planning application. We also want to anticipate and the big issue is: how does it all fit together, especially in Conway Street and around the railway?”

Residents from Ellen Street, Conway Street, Goldstone Lane, the Fonthill Road area and Poet’s Corner were all invited to have their say at the forum.

Over time, developers will aim to improve the Conway Street area, Hove Newtown, the Goldstone Lane area and Sackville Road trading estate up to Old Shoreham Road. The waste management centre at the coal yard may be de-designated to join up the development. Full regeneration of the whole area is expected to take 10 to 15 years if the plans go ahead.

Contact Hove Station Neighbourhood Forum or Brighton and Hove City Council Planning Department for further information.

This article was first published in Brighton and Hove News.

Planners have thrown out a hotel scheme put forward by Brighton and Hove Albion in the grounds of the American Express Community Stadium in Falmer.

One councillor dismissed the design as “mediocre” when the plans went before the Brighton and Hove City Council Planning Committee at Portslade Town hall today (Wednesday 17 February).

The decision was made on the casting vote of Councillor Julie Cattell, who chairs the Planning Committee.

It followed an application by Albion Sports and Leisure, a subsidiary of the football club, to build a hotel with 150 bedrooms. The scheme included a restaurant, bar, gym, meeting room, lounge, garden area, 62 car parking spaces and a cancer treatment centre.

Albion Sports and Leisure director Martin Perry, who stood for Labour in the local elections last May, said: “The whole of the basement will be a cancer treatment centre. It is likely the treatment centre will be private, although publicly funded.”

Mr Perry, the former chief executive of the football club and the man credited with creating the Amex Stadium, said: “The site is very constrained. It is a triangle constrained by the football stadium, the railway and the (Bennett’s Field) car park. We do not own that car park. We have considered the objections.”

A report recommended that councillors refuse planning permission because of the design, closeness to the stadium (14 metres) and the inappropriate architectural impact on Stanmer Park.

Councillor Maggie Barradell, a Labour member, said: “The design is mediocre … This has not been a good application.”

Councillor Adrian Morris, a fellow Labour member, said: “There are huge economic benefits. The Albion do a lot for the city but we cannot treat them any differently.

“I have to agree with the officer’s recommendation about design. We need the development but it is what standard of design that we need to achieve.

“The loss of 156 car parking spaces is a big issue. There could have been a softer design. I am sure the applicant will come back with something better.”

Another Labour councillor Jackie O’Quinn said: “I do find the building very stark, very utilitarian. It does not fit in with the stadium. I think it is a great pity the applicant did not soften the plans. It is a great idea to have a hotel there but it does have to be of quality.”

Councillor Pete West raised environmental concerns. He said: “We do have a stadium and it does have architectural merit. The visual impact is important and the national park that surrounds this site.

“Stanmer Park does have views of the site. Stanmer Park is listed. We must not overlook this. The game has been raised since Stanmer Park has been set up. A hotel is not inappropriate in itself and the Amex is a huge success. But we do not need to compromise on the design.”

Speaking in support of the development Councillor Carol Theobald, a Conservative, said: “The building has a nice curve. I regret the loss of car parking. 156 spaces is rather a lot. I do see there are only two objections.

“There will be 82 jobs which is a benefit to local jobs and the local economy, football players who do come to the Amex stadium and even parents of students.”

Councillor Cattell said: “I don’t think the design is like the Amex which is spectacular. We need to separate the design from the applicant. I don’t like the message this sends out to other developers that designs that are mediocre are ok.”

Mr Perry said: “Which is better, a hotel or tarmac?”

Given the no vote, the committee appears to believe that the tarmac is more appealing for now.

This article was first published in Brighton and Hove News on Wednesday 17 February. You can read the same article here.

Residents of Brighton and Hove have 26 days until Tuesday 16 February to express their views about the late licence application from the Synergy Centre in West Street.

The centre has met with some resistance from the Sussex Police licensing team who view the Synergy Centre as a live music venue. The Synergy Centre sees itself as a multimedia arts centre doing charitable work.

Synergy Centre director Steve Peake said: “While some elements of Synergy’s application look like a live music venue, other elements look like a poetry salon, or a dance studio, or a youth club, or a conference centre, or a homeless drop-in centre or a youth skills-raising facility, etc.

“The Synergy Centre is one of a kind. There is nowhere like it in the whole country and therefore we do not fit easily on to the matrix to which the police are so rigidly attached.”

The vision of the Synergy centre is to use creative, multimedia events at the weekends to subsidise work midweek with disadvantaged groups including the unemployed, homeless people, those with mental health problems and substance misuse issues.

In the strategy document Mr Peake writes: “Another key aim of the Synergy Centre is to act as a hub and incubator for emerging talent within Brighton’s creative and cultural industries.”

A licence is needed to sell alcohol at any time, to sell refreshments including soft and hot drinks after 11pm and to provide entertainment after 11pm.

Mr Peake argues that Brighton lacks a medium-sized live music venue which prevents many bands from visiting the city and boosting the economy.

The Synergy Centre is bigger than Concorde 2 and smaller than the Brighton Centre with a capacity of 800 to 1,000 people.

Sussex Police has concerns about another live music venue in West Street. They operate a policy of containment and are concerned about another late-night entertainment venue in the area which is in a “cumulative impact zone”. The previous licence was surrendered when the occupiers had to leave.

You can sign the online petition which has attracted more than 1,900 signatures in support of the Synergy Centre here, hosted by change.org. You can write to Sussex Police and Brighton and Hove Council Licensing Committee to express your views before Tuesday 16 February when the consultation closes.

First published in Brighton and Hove News on Saturday 23 January. Read the full article about the Synergy Centre here.

Hove residents gathered in force tonight (Monday 7 December) to express concern about a proposal to build a 17-storey tower containing 107 flats on the corner of Sackville Gardens and Kingsway.

Angelique Henderson, chair of the No To Sackville Tower campaign group, said: “We have only known about the plans for a couple of weeks and already more than 300 people have joined our campaign on Facebook.

“It’s not just residents of Sackville Gardens who are opposed to the tower – people from across Brighton and Hove have told us how worried they are.

“The council’s own planning guidance on tall buildings is based on a detailed independent study which categorically excludes Sackville Gardens conservation area as a zone appropriate for a high rise.

“We ask that whatever is proposed is of high architectural quality to enhance the area.

“The No To Sackville Tower committee would be fully behind a proposal of suitable height and design by an architectural firm with a track record in producing award-winning buildings.

Hove Labour MP Peter Kyle backs the residents’ campaign and said he feared that the apartments would be too expensive and that the flats would be bought mainly by property speculators from abroad which would price yet more local residents out of the market.

Westbourne ward councillors Denise Cobb and Tom Bewick also feel the proposed tower is out of keeping with the neighbourhood.

Mrs Henderson and Valerie Paynter from Save Hove have started a petition which they hope to take to Brighton and Hove City Council when the full council meets on Thursday 17 December. They are petitioning for a planning brief – the rules of engagement for a particular site.

There is broad agreement that the site needs to be developed but residents want to limit the height of any new-build which they maintain should be no higher than the existing buildings.

The full article was first published on Monday 7 December in Brighton and Hove News.

In response to the spate of terror attacks by ISIS culminating in Paris on Friday November 13, I consider how the UK should respond.

My article about terror in Paris was first published in Brighton Argus on Tuesday November 17.

THE UN must endorse military action to eradicate Islamic State (IS) and broker peace in Syria.

Paris suffered a vicious assault on its democracy, culture and young people, innocents caught in the crossfire. Meticulously planned, indiscriminate violence.

French military action in Syria is a likely motive.

Read a longer article here about the need for a coherent diplomatic and military strategy involving the UN to defeat ISIS. First published on the News Hub on Thursday November 19.

This is the second terrorist attack on Paris this year. However, the earlier attack at the offices of Charlie Hebdo was provoked by inflammatory cartoons ridiculing Prophet Mohammed and targeted.

Read my article about Charlie Hebdo here.

Last Friday’s attack was on a far greater scale.

President Francois Hollande said the attacks were “an act of war”, echoing George Bush’s “war on terror” after 9/11. This is playing into the hands of the terrorists.

Diplomacy, better relations between the US and Russia and, above all, endorsement of all military action by the UN are the best hope of eradicating Islamic State and negotiating peace in Syria and Iraq.

The mistake in Iraq was to invade without UN agreement.

MPs voted against military action in Syria in 2013, shaken by the bloodbath in Iraq and their part in it and Islamic State gradually filled the vacuum left when Saddam Hussein was deposed.

Labour MP Peter Kyle for Hove voted in favour of air strikes in Syria. Read what he said here, first published in Brighton and Hove News.