City Park Ranger Cuts
Demo against - City Parks Rangers' cuts.
19th January 2016: The proposal to cut the ranngers' numbers from 9 to 3 sparked off two demonstrations [1] on 19th January 2016 coinciding with the Council's Environment Committee meeting at Portslade Town Hall and [2] more recently outside the Brighthelm Centre. The Council finally reduced the cut to leave 7 full-time jobs for the rangers intact.
Cityparks rangers ensure everyone enjoys our public open spaces safely. Working alongside local preservation and horticultural groups, they ensure our parks & countryside are maintained to the highest standard possible.
What do the CityParks rangers do? [from the Council's website]
A reduction of their numbers to 3 would have disabled the CityParks Rangers from carrying out the huge range of work they currently undertakes to protect and sustain Brighton and Hove's special environment.
If our public open spaces go unmaintained, we should not be surprised if parts of them become unavailable for public use and therefore less able to justify their place within the public realm. When Councils perform their open spaces studies, factors such as accessibility and use are instrumental in deciding where public money is spent. If our open spaces are not properly maintained, arguments for "selling them off" are likely to be used in the attempt to balance future budgets.