Architecture & Conservation · 3 min read
How Brighton and Hove’s Conservation Areas Were Chosen
Explain designation, character statements and the changing ideas of heritage behind the protected areas.
Read the storyIndependent city recordBrighton · Hove · PortsladeEdition 001 / 2026
THE ARCHIVE
The complete city collection
History, neighbourhoods, civic explainers and environmental stories — independently researched and organised for unhurried reading.
Neighbourhoods · 3 min read
Kemp Town: Estate, Parish and Neighbourhood
Separate the original planned estate from the much larger district that later adopted its name.
Read the storyHistory & Heritage · 3 min read
How Hove’s Avenues Were Planned
Read the street hierarchy, plots and architecture of the Avenues as evidence of late-Victorian urban design.
Read the storyHistory & Heritage · 3 min read
Dr Richard Russell and the Seawater Cure
Explain how medical claims about bathing and drinking seawater helped turn Brighthelmstone into a health resort.
Read the storyCoast & Environment · 3 min read
Wilding Waterhall: What Rewilding Means on Former Public Land
Examine habitat recovery, grazing, monitoring and public access on the former golf-course landscape.
Read the storyTransport & Infrastructure · 3 min read
Where Parking Surplus Is Legally Spent
Explain the statutory rules and show how the reported surplus supports transport and environmental purposes.
Read the storyCivic Life · 3 min read
How the 2025 Housing Allocations Scheme and Homemove Work
Explain eligibility, priority bands, bidding and the reality of demand without implying that an application guarantees a home.
Read the storyCivic Life · 3 min read
What Accessibility and Anti-Racism Mean for Council Services
Examine how adopted strategies translate broad equality commitments into service standards and measurable actions.
Read the storyArchitecture & Conservation · 3 min read
Madeira Terrace and the Engineering of the Seafront
Examine the cast-iron structure as municipal infrastructure, designed landscape and major conservation challenge.
Read the storyNeighbourhoods · 3 min read
Carlton Hill and the Lost Streets of Edward Street
Use maps and photographs to reconstruct a working-class district reshaped by twentieth-century clearance.
Read the storyHistory & Heritage · 3 min read
The Railway and the Growth of Hove
Connect stations and rail alignments with residential expansion, commuting and the emergence of a separate town centre.
Read the storyHistory & Heritage · 3 min read
Bathing Machines, Dippers and the Regulated Beach
Describe the labour, etiquette and technology that made Georgian sea bathing possible.
Read the storyCoast & Environment · 3 min read
Wild Park Rainscape: Filtering Road Runoff Before It Reaches Drinking Water
Explain how nature-based drainage can intercept polluted runoff above the chalk aquifer.
Read the storyTransport & Infrastructure · 3 min read
Blue Badges and Disabled Parking in a Dense City
Explain national eligibility alongside local bays, restrictions and practical accessibility challenges.
Read the storyCivic Life · 3 min read
Council Homes: Repairs, Building Safety and the 2026 Fire-Safety Programme
Explain landlord responsibilities, resident reporting routes and the current programme of safety work.
Read the storyCivic Life · 3 min read
Sussex & Brighton Combined County Authority: Powers Before the 2028 Mayoral Election
Set out the new authority’s legal functions, transitional governance and which decisions remain with Brighton & Hove.
Read the storyArchitecture & Conservation · 3 min read
Embassy Court and Modernism on the Seafront
Place Wells Coates’s apartment block within debates about modern living, coastal architecture and restoration.
Read the storyNeighbourhoods · 3 min read
Hanover and Elm Grove on the Steep Slopes
Explain how speculative terraces adapted to topography and housed Brighton’s expanding Victorian population.
Read the storyHistory & Heritage · 3 min read
From Hove Commissioners to County Borough
Chart the institutions through which a fast-growing settlement gained autonomy and civic confidence.
Read the storyHistory & Heritage · 3 min read
How Brighton’s Georgian Season Worked
Examine the calendar of sociability, lodging, promenading and entertainment that reshaped the town.
Read the storyCoast & Environment · 3 min read
Why Brighton & Hove’s Elm Collection Is Nationally Important
Tell the ecological and management story of the city’s surviving elms and continuing disease-control programme.
Read the storyTransport & Infrastructure · 3 min read
Brighton & Hove’s May 2026 Electric-Vehicle Charging Plan
Summarise the agreed network direction, procurement approach and equity questions for households without driveways.
Read the storyCivic Life · 3 min read
Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2025–2030
Summarise prevention, accommodation and support commitments while distinguishing statutory homelessness from street homelessness.
Read the storyCivic Life · 3 min read
Local Government Reorganisation: What the July 2026 Decision Means
Separate the government’s July decision from later implementation choices and explain what is settled or still open.
Read the story