Good morning, Brighton. We definitely had some rain yesterday and the parks and plants are all looking much healthier for it. Saying that, one little last heat wave this autumn wouldn’t be terrible would it? Anyway…

In today’s Brighton Scoop:

- Phil Reynolds

🏛️ Well, that's one for the "hurry up and wait" files! Whitehall's just hit pause on the great council shake-up, meaning Brighton & Hove's planned merger with East Saltdean, Telscombe and Peacehaven is on ice while ministers do a "rapid review" (bureaucrat-speak for "we need a minute"). Good news for anyone dreading a boundary change headache: May 2027 elections will now run under the current map.

Council leader Bella Sankey isn't fazed, insisting the merger case is still rock solid — commuters, college-goers and shoppers cross that border daily, apparently. She's politely nudging government to get on with the review and confirm it's made the right call.

Read more about local government reorganisation progress and decisions on the GOV.UK website

🎓 A University of Brighton student is turning dyslexia on its head. Chris Hamer, a Sustainable Design MA student, is using craft and materials to challenge how we think about literacy and ability. His exhibition, Making as Enquiry: Dyslexia, Functional Illiteracy, and Alternative Ways of Knowing, flips the script: instead of treating dyslexia as a personal failing, he's highlighting how institutions create barriers for different thinkers.

Diagnosed at eight, Hamer uses objects and craft as communication tools, exploring how "making" can express experiences difficult to convey through text. With roughly one in ten Brits dyslexic, his work asks a timely question: whose knowledge counts? The free exhibition at Edward Street challenges us to rethink how society values different ways of knowing—and it's part of a broader university commitment to inclusive learning. 👏 Read more about the exhibition.

Making as Enquiry: Dyslexia, Functional Illiteracy, and Alternative Ways of Knowing is being shown at the 1st Floor Gallery, Edward Street, Brighton, until 11th September. The exhibition is free and is open Monday to Saturday from 10am until 5pm.

🌳 Brighton & Hove Council's £13.7m Hove Beach Park facelift has hit a snag—hundreds of newly planted trees have mysteriously died, and nobody's saying much about why.

The council, which planted them as part of the seafront revamp from King Alfred to Hove Lagoon, is now investigating what went wrong. A replacement planting application is apparently coming, once planners figure out how to stop history repeating itself.

Green councillor Sue Shanks raised the obvious question: why haven't they been replanted already? Standard practice says dead trees get replaced within a set timeframe. Enforcement action could even follow—awkward when the council's the culprit. Planning head Nicola Hurley's tight-lipped, citing potential legal complications, but promises a thorough post-mortem before round two.

🌤️ | 📈 20° | 📉 11° | ☔️ <5% | 🌬️ NW 9mph | 🌊 1-2ft

🌤️ | 📈 20° | 📉 15° | ☔️ 10% | 🌬️ SW 8mph | 🌊 <1ft

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Cinema’s aren’t going to fill themselves. Break a habit of a lifetime, turn off Netflix, get off the sofa and potter down to your local (cinema).

Duke of York’s Picturehouse - Book

The Snail & The Whale | Pressure | De Gaulle: Resistance | OASIS: Don’t Look Back in Anger

Dukes at Komedia - Book

Leviticus | Tony | The Incomer | Spider-Man: Brand New Day | The Odyssey | The Death of Robin Hood | Teenage Sex & Death at Camp Miasma | Bitter Christmas | The Snail & The Whale | Tony | Terminator 2: Judgement Day

🎈 Family friendly events

Great to have you follow the Scoop today. If you liked it, do share us with a friend. There’s a coffee on me if you spot me in town.