Like many, I learnt to swim in public pools and have always used them as an affordable outing for family fun and fitness.
I have seen how many people depend on our pools: the elderly, those with disabilities, and children and families.
Sadly, our facilities are ageing, and one of our two 25-metre pools, the Prince Regent, has not opened since April due to flooding.
We are pressurising the Green administration to do something about the limited pool availability and are demanding the Prince Regent reopens soon.
Public pools are only one part of the city’s health and wellbeing picture – we are keen to encourage our local businesses to continue to develop the local infrastructure: be it boutique yoga studios, gyms or spas.
Labour are also keen for our city to develop in other ways, including regenerating our seafront, which is a legacy Labour are proud of from our time in administration – from Black Rock to Shelter Hall to the Madeira Terraces.
At Budget Council this year we brought forward proposals to build more beach huts and chalets to raise funds for the restoration of Madeira Terraces.
On the Western Esplanade, we have generated funding for an exciting landscape design which will provide improvements to the long-neglected West Hove seafront.
We are also encouraging all employers in our beautiful but somewhat expensive city to sign up to the real living wage.
At a Brighton and Hove Living Wage event last week I heard that the campaign aims to encourage local businesses to voluntarily pay all employees the Real Living Wage of £9.50 per hour instead of the government’s national minimum of £8.91.
This 59p per hour translates to £22.42 over a 38-hour week.
It was fantastic to learn that over 700 local employers have voluntarily signed up to the scheme and that this number is still growing.
Labour has a strong and clear vision for the future of the city and believes that a locally led economy that keeps profit and investment in our community must be at the heart of our city’s recovery from covid.
Councillor John Allcock is the joint leader of the Labour opposition on Brighton and Hove City Council.
