As a Brighton resident throughout my entire adult life, one of my ongoing frustrations over many years has been the extent to which our political structures create an artificial barrier between the city and the rest of Sussex. This was reinforced when we gained city status in 2000 which was unpopular amongst many power brokers in East Sussex. It is possible that this demarcation only exists in the minds of a small number of people, but I can recall numerous events and organisations that I have worked on where there appears to be a virtual wall between Brighton and Hove and its neighbours. Ideas that begin in Brighton are rejected by our neighbouring authorities and vice versa. A classic example is the twin attempts to obtain local devolution started under the coalition government offering equivalence to the devolved status available to places such as Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol and of course London. The Greater Brighton area on the one hand, and the Three Southern Counties (3SC) on the other; Our surrounding District Councils sit in both groups waiting for a winner to be declared. If only our politicians had the guts and wisdom to bring both schemes together. No one would doubt that Brighton is the largest conurbation in the area, indeed when the South East England Assembly operated, covering Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Hampshire, Oxford, Bedfordshire and Berkshire along with Milton Keynes, Brighton and Hove was the largest city in the group by some margin.

Of course the reality for most of us is very different, travelling along the coast, particularly to the West helps to dismiss some of this false separation, and whilst travelling East does present some sense of demarcation, in fact Rottingdean is as much part of the city of Brighton and Hove as Kemptown, even though it is the only part of the city with its own parish council as far as I understand it. The Downs on the other hand and the South Downs National Park ensure that there is a tangible gap between ourselves and our nearest neighbours travelling North. The truth is we cannot exist and grow as a city without a strong link into East and West Sussex and indeed beyond into Surrey, Kent and Hampshire. The risk is that in trying to improve the quality of life for our residents that we ignore the wider picture and in doing so throw out the baby with the bathwater. This came home to me once again when I was at the Great Debate at the end of June, organised by Brighton University which of course has sites in Eastbourne and Hastings as well as the three main ones in our City. A lot of the questions and responses at the debate focused on how to improve the city with relatively little emphasis on our wider geographical context. Yet despite this many of the people who work at the Brighton sites of the University travel in from the surrounding areas and indeed many of the business links being established with the University means that many students travel out of the city when they are putting their education into practice.

There are numerous events and festivals that take place in our city which make tentative forays across city boundaries into Lewes, Shoreham and beyond. However few have the boldness and confidence to describe themselves as this weekends element of the Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival does. The events on Hove lawns which end today are entitled ‘Sussex and the World Weekend’ and they offer a great end to the Summer here in the city as we prepare for Autumn and the return to School and work for many involved in education. With one week to go to September, the festival is a great opportunity to explore many cultures and national identities through food. One of the reasons I am always pleased to see the food festival in the calendar is that for many years Nick Mosely who runs the festival has provided tangible links between the festival and a charity I helped to set up called FareShare Sussex. FareShare is one of the many charities in our area that helps to redirect food that would otherwise go to waste by ensuring that charities that help feed people who for various reasons would not have access to such provision. Fareshare is based here but helps to reduce food waste and ensure people are fed throughout Sussex and even into Surrey. It is a great resource and one of the many charities based in our city, such as Brighton Housing Trust, Brighton Womens Centre, Community Works, Rise, Sussex Pathways and YMCA Downslink Group that is not deterred by our city boundaries. These all set an example our political leaders should follow.