City Plan Part 2 – City Plan the return as I like to call it.  May be like Tom Cruise’s latest film, it really will be Mission Compostable.   
 
If a plan is supposed to future-proof the city, remember that nothing in the future looks as dated as our present vision of it.  Brighton is littered with many concrete and brick visions of failure.  Future-proof is not synonymous with enduring appeal. But the death of Sir Roger Scruton this year reminded me of the similarity between conservation and conservatism.   
 
Conservatives value cultural traditions and wish to leave them undiminished to our children. Conservationists value heritage.   
 
So why does environmentalism seem to belong to the left? 
 
Because the left look to government as the decision-makers set to save us from environmental catastrophe.  While perhaps Conservatives have a natural antipathy towards top-down plans. 
 
For Scruton, and for me, oikophilia is the starting place – love of the home, love of your ward, not large-scale governmental approaches.  And encouraging that love in your residents.  Giving them the means of expressing their love for where they live. So I was delighted when Cllr Robert Nemeth asked me talk about three Conservative amendments that local residents will love. 
 
Firstly, following on from Cllr Nemeth’s successful cross-party work on bee bricks, Conservatives want to ensure the Council draw up a mandatory list of items for inclusion in new developments that will help protect our local wildlife such as hedgehog holes, bird feeders and bat boxes.  There shouldn’t be any extra costs involved.  Who wouldn’t want to see an increase in bees, hedgehogs and bats?  They often become close family members. 
 
Secondly, The Royal Sussex County Hospital has been rightly protected as it is particularly sensitive to pollution.  And so why not schools?  How many schools are on major roads?  How many are also by development sites such as St Christopher’s on New Church Road?  We want to ensure our children’s health is not made inadvertently worse by an environmentally-conscious council. 
 
Lastly, on behalf of the Conservatives, I want to shout out the excellent work of the Beach Accessibility Working Group and the Beach Access Team, with support from TECC committee, who are finding innovative solutions to improving access across Brighton & Hove seafront and beaches.   
 
We want your continuing hard work and dedication to residents and visitors with particular needs recognised in the plan.   Look to your Conservative councillors if you wish to conserve your environment and city.  And remember, conservation is conservative.