The thinking would be: “This is a gate. Gates must be kept closed. Gates that are unlocked are not always closed. Therefore the gate must be locked.”

Never mind this gate is in the middle of a public park, paid for by public money. On one side of the gate is the park. On the other side of the gate is, the park. There is a line of bushes and trees to the left, with many (muddy) paths through them, and on the right is the boarded-up Stanmer House. This gate would only provide a mud-free path from one part of the park to the other, but clearly some pencil-necked lock-brained lifer at the council clearly deemed this must not be allowed. We, the council tax payers who paid for this gate, the park and all that is in it, must get muddy clambering through bushes merely to get from the park to the path. This is the way things must be, because the council is not there to serve the mere public.

Welcome to Brighton and Hove.

It’s actually quite a nice gate.