Joint Labour Group leader and Westbourne Councillor Carmen Appich in Brighton and Hove News.

“On Tuesday (25 May) some of my fellow Labour councillors and I took part in a vigil at The Level, commemorating the anniversary of George Floyd’s death, organised by Black Lives Matter.

The 9 minute 29 second silence, marking the duration of police kneeling on George’s neck, was very powerful, as were the speeches we heard.

We are committed to continue working with our residents and communities to make Brighton and Hove an anti-racist city.

To get to the vigil, I used a Bikeshare cycle. The scheme was introduced by Labour while in administration and has been a resounding success, giving easy and affordable access to cycling to our residents and visitors.

We continue to support the Bikeshare scheme and look forward to extending the existing network and the introduction of the new e-bikes across the city, making the scheme much more accessible.

…In December last year, I was approached by the Brighton Electric Vehicle (EV) Car Share project. This is a co-operative owned by local residents, not a big national business.

I introduced them to some of our residents and fellow councillors, all of whom have been hugely supportive.

Council staff are now working with Brighton EV car share on an initial pilot project and I look forward to seeing this reported to us at committee in the autumn.

And finally – I am very excited to welcome us all back to the Festival and Fringe and hope that you will be able to get involved in some of the fantastic events and exhibitions that are on offer.”

Read Councillor Appich’s full column in Brighton and Hove News here.