‘Being an MP is not about selfies with celebrities’

No chance for hard-working local Labour members and activists to have discussions, read candidates’ statements or quiz them in a good old-fashioned hustings, nope just one of Keir’s mates dropped in. An absolute affront to local democracy regardless of political party, which no doubt will be reflected in the ballot box come July.

I spent this weekend canvassing the good people of Patcham, a part of the city not too far from me and a fabulous place. Great pubs, great chippies, great schools and a group of our neighbours very angry about the proposed Royal Mail sorting office, but also brilliantly mobilised to vent their frustrations about the proposed plans.

There are of course social media pages, posters in windows and there have been many public meetings to discuss the many negative ramifications the site poses to local people.

With the election looming, Patcham residents are understandably seeking assurances from the prospective parliamentary candidates that they will support them challenging the application, as their former MP Caroline Lucas has so brilliantly done.

Green Party candidate Sian Berry has taken time to meet with residents, look at the site and read the planning documents. Although it is true that MPs have very little say on individual planning applications in the city, being a good constituency MP is about good representation, it’s about taking time to engage with residents, to hear their concerns, to look at the evidence, and this is where Sian’s experience shows. Being a good MP is not about hobnobbing with celebrities and selfies with famous faces. It’s about engaging with residents and finding ways to reflect their concerns in Westminster, or to fight their corner from the casework received.

Patcham Court Farm, where Royal Mail hope to build their “mega depot”, is referenced in historic legislation passed to protect the city’s water supply against contamination. The site sits over the chalk aquifer, which acts a bit like a sponge and filters rainwater before it becomes the drinking water we rely on in the city. The Brighton Downs Alliance note that our aquifers are the most polluted across the whole of the South Downs – “seven out of 13 boreholes have nitrate levels that exceed drinking water standards”.

While Southern Water treats our water to make it safe to drink, the porous nature of the aquifer means that it is vulnerable to pollution and therefore any development of land over the aquifer should go over and above when it comes to the sensitivities of the site. With so many questions about the overdevelopment of this site, coupled with the frequent discrepancies in the supporting documents submitted by Royal Mail, it’s no wonder residents are concerned about the potential risks.

It’s far from nimbyism on residents’ behalf. They are not opposed to redevelopment of the site, but with the land sitting above the chalk aquifer, they argue that redevelopment of the site should be sympathetic to the environmental and ecological sensitivities of the land, and importantly the aquifer. Coupled with the lack of investment in vital infrastructure in our sewer network and with the streets of Patcham frequently experiencing groundwater flooding and raw sewage seeping on to the streets, residents are also anxious about adding pressure to the water network in the area unless these very real problems are addressed.

In all of this, I also feel for our posties. They work hard and have been undervalued by Royal Mail for far too long. The North Road site is tired and no longer fit for purpose so I understand that they are desperate to move and I hope the council will work closely with them to identify a suitable alternative site. We all know in Brighton that Royal Mail struggle to deliver a letter on time. As Caroline Lucas noted in her planning objection “Royal Mail’s failure to maintain its current premises should ring alarm bells about allowing the company to be custodians of land which plays such an important role in the city’s water quality”.

This is clearly an issue of huge local importance and residents evidently do not feel that Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate, or their administration, is engaging with the problem in the way that the community deserves.

Steve Davis is the leader of the Greens on Brighton and Hove City Council