Seagull Weekly Briefing 31/05

Good morning, and welcome to the Brighton Seagull's Weekly Briefing. Summer seems to be struggling to get going; after a strong showing for the bank holiday weekend this week saw a lot of cloudy skies—but also a lot of Fringe shows, which members of the Flock will hear about later today, and the rest of you will hear about on Monday. For now, content yourself with The News:

Charlie Southall seeking planning permission for Montreal Arms pub

Charlie Southall, owner of the former Montreal Arms pub on Albion Hill, is up against the council's planning committee next week as they decide on his planning application.

In his plans, Southall says he wants to internally alter the first floor manager's accommodation, replace windows and doors, alter the facade, and raise the roof height.

The officer report recommends councillors grant planning permission at Wednesday's meeting, subject to sixteen different conditions including bee bricks, the submission of soundproofing plans, and the requirement that 'all new render finishes shall be smooth, lime-based, wet render without external beads, stops, bell drips or expansion joints' (make sure the listed building looks how it's meant to, basically).

Comments submitted on the planning portal question the need to raise the roof, say that 'heritage tiles should be properly sourced and replaced, so that the pub looks the same as it did before the damage was done', and that 'ideally we would welcome it back as a vibrant community pub/bar on the top of Hanover'.

Others object on the grounds of:

• Pub is an Asset of Community Value (ACV) and applicant is trying to bypass legislation
• Can't apply for change of use until the Pub is marketed for 2 years
• Applicant trying to reduce cost by using cheap replacement tiles, high standard tiles should be used
• Seeks to convert first floor accommodation into a luxury flat
• No confidence in developer due to past actions

The planning committee meet at Hove Town Hall at 2pm this Wednesday.

🖋 News in Brief 🖋

• Recycling across the city will now be collected at weekends, as well as Monday to Friday.
• Work is scheduled to begin next month on the major refurbishment of the MacLaren Pavilion at The Level. The building is set to be converted into a new kiosk café, three separate gender-neutral toilets, and a disabled access toilet. The work is expected to take around three months, and the aim is for the café and toilets to be open before the end of the summer.

What's happening?

As The Seagull reported on Wednesday, Kemptown and Peacehaven MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle will not be Labour's candidate for the July 4th general election.

What happened? In a message from Russell-Moyle, who was first elected in 2017, he said he received an 'administrative suspension letter' yesterday (Tuesday 28th May).

He said:

Someone (who remains anonymous to me) has made what I believe to be a vexatious and politically motivated complaint about my behaviour eight years ago. This is a false allegation that I dispute totally and I believe it was designed to disrupt this election.

There isn't enough time to defend myself as these processes within the party take too long, so the party have told me that I will not be eligible to be a candidate at the next election.

I'm gutted. I've spent the last decade of my life building one of the best campaigning CLPs in the country. I've been so inspired by everyone pulling together in the last week and excited for the campaign to come. We have an amazing local party, and I am sorry most of all for you party members do will be let down by this.

I aim to cooperate with the investigations process to clear my name, but will now take this opportunity to contribute to public life in different ways under what I hope is a Labour government.

I wish Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner, and the Labour team the best of luck and hope to be celebrating Labour wins across Sussex and beyond on election night.

What has happened since? The Seagull can reveal that Lloyd will not stand as an independent.

Who will stand in his place? According to journalist Michael Crick, Chris Ward, Keir Starmer's former chief of staff, has reportedly been chosen as Russell-Moyle's replacement.

Who is Chris Ward? He is currently director and head of Labour unit at Hanbury Strategy, working to 'help clients navigate what could be the next government', with clients having included Navitas Petroleum, controversial prize company Omaze, and gambling company Flutter.

What's his background? He's been in his current role since January 2022. Before that he was Starmer's chief of staff from 2020 to 2021, his leadership campaign manager before that, and all the way back in 2015 he was Starmer's head of office.

What can I do if I disagree with Lloyd's suspension? A demo to reinstate him is being held tomorrow at 3pm, at the Aids statue in New Steine Gardens.