Hollingbury Resident Launches Petition to Protect Brighton and Hove Front Gardens
File photo of Ditchling Crescent in Hollingbury, Brighton (Photo: Robin Webster, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
A Hollingbury resident has launched a petition asking Brighton and Hove City Council to protect the city’s remaining front gardens and plant more street trees. Lynne Angel-Kerr says she was prompted to act after an electric vehicle charging point was installed outside her home in Westfield Crescent.
She fears more chargepoints across the city will push households to pave over their front gardens so they can park by their front door. The petition, called Brighton Climate Force, is on Change.org and showed 179 verified signatures when we checked on Monday 19 October.
Sources: Brighton and Hove News, 16 October 2026, Brighton Climate Force petition on Change.org, Brighton and Hove City Council petitions scheme and Planning Portal
What the petition asks for
According to the Change.org page, the petition is run by Brighton Climate Force, which describes itself as a resident-led community interest company. It raises concern that green verges are being lost to concrete and that front gardens are being paved over. It asks the council to work with the group to protect local front gardens, plant more street trees and re-green neighbourhoods.
Anyone who lives, works or studies in Brighton and Hove is invited to sign. The petition says reaching its target would bring the issue onto the council floor.
Why she started it
Brighton and Hove News reports that many of Mrs Angel-Kerr’s neighbours have already paved over their front gardens to guarantee a parking space. She says that in her street alone, around 55 per cent of gardens have gone.
“A garden lowers the temperatures, it gives us cleaner air, it gives pollinators, scores of insects and small mammals a home. Gardens feed the birds.”
“I’m asking the council to regreen wherever possible and protect front garden spaces.”
Lynne Angel-Kerr, Hollingbury resident
She told Brighton and Hove News her research found that seven million front gardens have been paved over across the country, an area she compares to the size of Barbados. That is her own figure, and we have not independently checked it.
She wants help from local businesses, garden competitions and green signs for people who protect their front gardens. “I know we can make a difference,” she said.
The campaign website
Mrs Angel-Kerr has also launched a campaign website, Brighton Front Garden Protection League, to encourage other residents to get involved. It does not name individual organisers, and says it was inspired by CPRE London’s “Front Gardens on the Front Line” campaign.
- Pause what it calls the rushed EV lamppost roll-out, and hold a full community consultation on plans that protect front gardens.
- Introduce “Green Plaque” parking spaces, so a household that keeps or restores a planted front garden keeps a protected on-street space.
- Adopt policies that support de-paving and limit the impact of converting gardens for parking.
- Add their street to the map by joining the League through the sign-up form.
- Start small: lift a slab, plant it up or add a water butt.
- Write to their councillor asking for a pause on the lamppost roll-out and for Green Plaque spaces.
The site links paved frontages to flooding, heat in summer and loss of habitat for bees, hedgehogs and birds. It gives no figures for how many gardens in Brighton and Hove have been paved over.
The council has been changing how it runs its chargepoints. As we reported, it is moving its chargepoints from Blink to Char.gy and Believ, and says 600 more are planned over the next six months.
What the rules say about paving a front garden
Paving a front garden is not banned. The Planning Portal says planning permission is needed to cover a front garden with an impermeable surface of more than 5 square metres, unless the surface is permeable or rainwater drains to a lawn or border. A dropped kerb needs an application to the local authority. These rules cover front gardens only.
See the Planning Portal guide on paving your front garden for the full rules.
How a petition reaches the council
Petitions on external sites such as Change.org are accepted under the council’s petitions scheme. The scheme says the council must be told at least 10 working days before the meeting where it will be considered.
Brighton and Hove News did not include a response from the council in its report. Nothing in the petition or the news report says a date has been set for any debate.
How the story developed
How to take part
Sources
More local stories are under News and Parks and Green Spaces on ImJustBrighton.
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