Projects in five areas have secured funding through the Better Brighton and Hove Fund.
Following suggestions from the public, ward councillors picked the projects to benefit from community infrastructure levy paid by developers to Brighton and Hove City Council.
The projects are the first to be announced from the fund, which will result in every ward having at least £22,000 to spend.
Council wards where there have been more property developments will receive more money.
Rottingdean and West Saltdean had the largest share of the first tranche of money which, for the five wards combined, comes to almost £230,000.
With just over £87,000 to spend, the ward has £29,000 earmarked for Saltdean Residents and Community Association to spend on painting turquoise seafront railings and other infrastructure.
Other sums include £10,000 for two flashing road signs and £7,000 for three benches for Saltdean Vale and Coombe Vale bus terminus.
Wish ward in Hove has £76,000, of which £24,000 is going towards removing two stumps and planting four new trees.
Friends of Hove Lagoon will receive £22,000 towards a new outdoor gym and Aldrington Recreation Ground, commonly known as Wish Park, will have £15,000 for alternative storage for community football.
The rest of the money is going towards 20 maturing trees already planted in Wish Park and a small safe play area for toddlers in Davis Park.
Trees are a priority in Round Hill ward, which has £22,000 to spend, with new plantings in Lewes Road, Richmond Road and Beaconsfield Road.
Westbourne and Poets Corner also has £22,000 and is aiming to spend £15,000 on two or three pieces of gym equipment and £5,000 on replacing a tree and removing a stump in Lawrence Road.
In Woodingdean, the plan is to spend £11,000 on improving the look of the shops in Cowley Drive as a community hub, with support for a café or similar outlet in the vacant unit.
A further £10,000 will go towards redesigning the planted area outside the shopping parade in Warren Way, and £1,000 towards an interpretation plaque for the historic Woodingdean Well, the world’s deepest hand-dug well.
The council has a total of £750,000 to spend through the fund, with further projects to be announced.
Please do not let the council get there grubby hands on these funds,its a known fact they are no good with money,I find it most embarrassing to know that we have to dip into raised money for something that should be pencilled in ,within the council’s own budget ,,but I reiterate they are totally irresponsible and useless when it comes to running the city it should be renamed as eyesore by the sea,you want a dirty weekend YOU WILL CERTAINLY GET THATim more ways than one
Well the Council DOES have this money as it’s been paid to them because of s106 or CIL payments that have been levied by the council.
Councillors have decided what schemes this money will be spent on.
The council will pay the invoices when they are submitted.
This money is ring fenced and can only be spent on specific things.
£24,000 to remove two tree stumps and plant four trees?
Good heavens. One appreciates that money does not grow on trees, but at these prices one might reasonably expect the trees themselves to be made of it.
One cannot help feeling that the Council is getting rather comprehensively stiffed on this particular invoice.
Lady Bracknell
“Going towards” , which to my mind means it will cost more?
Your extensive expertise in public procurement will educate us all if you’re willing, for five minutes, to lay off the gin, valium and faux aristocratic warbling.
Please elaborate.
A timely point, Lady Bracknell. Where are the three quotations for a job over £5,000?
And let’s not forget the Council sells the wood from most felled trees (unless genuinely diseased), so there’s a nice little Council earner going, er, where?
Were it not for an FOI a couple of years ago asking where all the CIL tax had gone, and the sudden appearance of a “Better Brighton” fund – which simply seems to do things our Council Tax is supposed to be doing in the first place – I doubt we’d be seeing any crumbs from the table of the CIL tax fund. And now, they cannot even get the iconic Brighton paint colour right!
Scrutiny, Scrutiny. Wherefore art thou, Scrutiny?