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New England House deadline looms By Tyler Burgess

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Brighton’s cultural identity is rooted in its people. A city full of artists, musicians, and small-business owners, Brighton is a hub for creative visionaries. But as closures mount and rents soar, the city’s identity feels increasingly under threat.

In March, Brighton and Hove City Council announced plans to vacate New England House, an eight-story commercial building near Brighton Station. For years, it has been home to some of the city’s most vital creative artists, photographers and performers who rely on its affordability and collaborative atmosphere to sustain their work.

The building opened in 1963, described as “the world’s first high-rise industrial business centre,” and is home to over 100 different enterprises. It is owned by Brighton and Hove councils and is one of the few publicly controlled workspaces in a city dominated by private rentals.

The decision to close its doors was made after serious fire risks were identified after months of deliberation. A fire safety report identified severe issues, inadequate fire protection, insufficient fire detection and no accessible evacuation options for disabled people. The required renovations would be extensive, and with no clear timeline, tenants have been told to vacate by September.

In March, a group of 11 business owners from the House submitted a deputation to the council’s cabinet, appealing for a more generous notice period. Along with assistance in finding a suitable alternative, the council has maintained its deadline.

While it is difficult to contest decisions concerning fire safety, particularly in the shadow of the Grenfell disaster, the impact on Brighton’s creative community is undeniable. As affordable industrial and commercial spaces become rarer, many of these tenants will likely be pushed further out of the city. And a closure such as this is sure to devastate the creative industry Brighton is known for.

Cllr Jacob Taylor, Deputy Leader of Brighton & Hove City Council, said:

“We inherited a nightmare situation with New England House, a creative hub for decades, which unfortunately is having to be evacuated because of fire safety issues. But we are determined to help rehouse tenants where we can, and are exploring using other council buildings to do so. Looking to the future, I’m determined to recreate the spirit of what we had at New England House in a new or refurbished building.”

New England House is not an isolated case. The City has seen a rapid decline in commercial spaces. Independent cafes, art venues and longstanding local businesses have all quietly disappeared, being replaced by big chains, Airbnb and high-end flats.

Beloved Shops like Hisbe, Gak and Dockerhills were all important local businesses that have shut their doors. Venues, cafes and community hubs have disappeared, often replaced by big chains or luxury flats designed for investors, not residents.

“One of the things that makes Brighton & Hove so special is its creativity, and the vibrancy of small business in the sector. But – we should be honest – this is under threat, because of unaffordable housing and a lack of light industrial and creative space in the city. We need to build more affordable properties, and we need to ensure new developments have affordable and appropriate commercial space for our industries,” Cllr Taylor added.

A decision on the future use of New England House is expected to be made in the summer by the council cabinet. However, tenants will now be looking to move their business elsewhere as the September deadline looms.

Brighton Festival, Brighton Life, Theatre

Nadine Shah and The Brighton Festival by Jed Novick and Gilly Smith

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“I’m a little breathless”, whispered Ganavya to a packed audience as she joined her harpist and double bass combo on stage. “It’s probably because I’m a little heart-broken. I may need your help tonight. Would you sing with me?”  

Ganavya, a New York born, Tamil Nadu-raised sonic shapeshifting multi-instrumentalist and guilt tripper and star of Indian music, supporting reigning queen Aruna Sairam was probably the show of the Festival. Hard-bitten cynics in that audience have since confessed that they did sing with her. My friend and I sang with her. Everyone sang. And as we did, so her breath returned, filling her lungs with a soaring song of heartache that rocked the Theatre Royal, a transcendent mix of spiritual jazz and South Asian devotional music that many of us may never have heard before. Yes, it was in Tamil and in Hindi. Yes, we understood every word.  

The Brighton Festival. It’s one of the highlights of the calendar, but it’s difficult. How do you know what to go to? A reworking of Philip Glass and Ravi Shankar’s “Passages” aside, there were no big “must see that” shows, and if you didn’t know your South Asian arts scene, Anoushka Shankar’s Festival was a bit of guesswork. There’s absolutely no doubt there was some marvellous stuff – as evidenced by the Sairam and Ganavya gig, but if you’re not an aficionado of Indian music, would you have known that was going to be such a hot show?  

There’s something else– let’s call it May Fatigue. There’s so much going on in Brighton in May. The Festival, the Great Escape, the Fringe… the Open Houses. Yes, the Open Houses. A lovely thing to do, seeing some art, nosing round other people’s homes. And it might be free, but you’re out and being out, maybe you’ll stop for a drink. Or a bite.   So yes, lots going on and all demand your attention and your time and your energy and, maybe more importantly, all demand your wallet. Nothing’s cheap. We went to the Spiegel Gardens last night and bought a bottle of wine to share. £39.50.  

For a whole month, the streets are alive with the sound of, well, everything. Not just music but everything, and if the Weather Gods smile, there’s no finer place to be. Just maybe… it could all be spread out a bit more? The Great Escape in June maybe?  

Anyway, back to the Festival. The best non-music thing I saw was Emma Rice’s Wise Children production of North by Northwest, also at the Theatre Royal. A triumph of parody and comic timing and, well, you can read all about it here in The Mighty Whistler.  https://westhillwhistler.com/2025/05/17/north-by-northwest-at-the-theatre-royal/

Saturday night’s showstopping gig was Nadine Shah at The Dome. Again, Mercury nominated she might well be, but she’s not “Bloody hell, cancel everything, this we have to see”. As it turned out, she was great and, while we didn’t have to cancel anything, it was very cool. And this is the glory of the creative directorship of the Brighton Festival; if Anoushkar’s already shown you her record collection and opened a door into a whole new world of music and arts, how could Nadine Shah be anything other than an exciting new find?  

Like a cross between Shirley Bassey, PJ Harvey and Patti Smith, South Shields-born Shah is as loud and opinionated as any girl from the Geordie Shores. But her mash up of her own singular influences from Afrobeat to Eastern scales – apparently her father sang Urdu ghazals, a form of Arabic poetry, around the house as she grew up – became a roar of pain as she took us with her on her personal journey of grief, rehab and recovery as she pranced like a dressage pony across the stage. The music was hard, her voice sharp, the roar raw.  

The spiritual delicacy of Sairam and Gavanya, the joy and verve of North by Northwest, the raw noise of Nadine Shah. All in one Festival. And how cool is that?

Brighton Life, Cinema, White Wall

White Wall Cinema by Fraser Simpson

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White Wall Cinema has been an ongoing pop-up cinema since 2015 and has undergone significant changes in its activity. Whereas before, it would be two to three screenings a year at venues ranging from clothing stores to church halls, it is now celebrating its 10th anniversary, having increased its frequency of screenings to one or two a week, having been at their permanent home in Wagner Hall since 2019, and currently enjoying their busiest year to date.

Henry Ray is one of the founders of White Wall Cinema and believes what makes White Wall special to him and those who attend screenings is that it’s all personal. To him, “It’s not done along the lines of business or to impress anybody, we just do it because we really love doing it and we have a passion for cinema. When people discover something that they previously thought wasn’t exciting to them, but someone has opened their door for them, they’ll want to come back and find more of that.”

It could also be said that White wall’s success has inspired other people to set up pop-up cinemas across Brighton. Henry himself has been told by people that “You’ve been the inspiration”, and he is happy that more has happened because of his work with White Wall, although he jokes that “If you’ve been doing it for 10 years, you’d hope that would be the case.”

The venue choice of Wagner Hall, which has seating ranging from 112 to 130, has been something that has benefited both White Wall and the people that own Wagner Hall. Henry said that, having used it once for an event, ‘We’re now fully involved with the place, which means a closer relationship, which is always good because venues are very difficult for pop-up cinemas.’

When it comes to the programming at White Wall, the screenings will range from as far back as the 1930s to something released relatively recently. As described on their website, White Wall’s screenings aim to “cover all types of film, from all genres and eras with a focus on those films that are a little off the beaten path, that you generally won’t find screened at your local multiplex.”. Henry expands on this philosophy, saying, “When we see something we liked and enjoyed, we think other people will enjoy it, and it isn’t primarily an audience thing, rather than ‘Will we get lots of people to it’, it’s ‘Will someone come to it and think it was great’. The sky’s the limit, how we decide is totally on instinct”.

The main worry with any cinema, especially a pop-up cinema, is the finances of the whole operation. Whilst Henry knows this is the biggest challenge for White Wall Cinema, he also isn’t fazed by the difficulty it may provide. He said, ‘You’ll take a hit on things financially, but as long as we’re sensible, and don’t be too ambitious as we go along, then you don’t have to worry too much. You’re very unlikely to ever make any money, but that’s not the point. If we were in it for money, we’d be doing something else entirely.’

The COVID-19 pandemic back in 2020 was detrimental to all aspects of life, but for a pop-up cinema like White Wall, it provided a unique scenario compared to other cinemas in the area. Henry recalls, ‘When things opened up in a socially distanced way, we could be swift and nimble and just do something because we’re not a major corporation. We started doing weekly or sometimes nightly screenings of different things in a socially distanced way. That was one of the things that really connected us to where we are now because we were doing it so consistently all through these periods when the rules allowed it. Because it was so unpredictable, because we were small and were just people, we could be “Oh, they’re opening again in 10 days, let’s do it.”

When it comes to the future, Henry is undeniably hopeful. With this year being the busiest for White Wall Cinema, Henry and his team are taking it as a year to be the best version of themselves, alongside planning something in the second half of the year that can be deemed as a birthday to celebrate 10 years since opening. Ultimately, Henry wishes to make White Wall Cinema and the venue of Wagner Hall ‘less of a pop-up, more of a hub for cinema. Part of the mission of the cinema was to create the thing that I thought should be here, and since it wasn’t here, so let’s just make it ourselves. We’ll do what feels right, but people seem to want more of it, so we’re going to grow organically with that and see how far they can take it.

Ultimately, Henry can be happy with where White Wall is currently at, and how it has transformed into a more frequent and vibrant place for people to watch films they might not have thought about watching in the first place. He feels grateful to those who keep attending screenings and believes the connection shared with them has become stronger since the pandemic. He said, “Since that time, people come up to me after screenings and say ‘You’ve saved my life’ because that was absolutely what they needed at that time. For us, it’s made a real connection between us and the audience and helped us decide that we wanted to keep doing this in a more serious way.”

Brighton Life, Brighton Open Air Theatre, Cinema

Outdoor cinema: By Fraser Simpson

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As the summer months draw near, the ability to be outdoors in more desirable weather is more than possible for local residents. Even for activities held indoors, there will be outdoor events for those hobbies to provide an alternative to sitting inside a venue for a few hours this summer.

If you’re keener on films, then Picturehouse will have you covered. Organised by staff members at the Duke of York’s Picturehouse, Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema is an ongoing addition for over a decade to Brighton’s cinema landscape, taking place at Preston Manor South Lawn & Garden.

The benefit of the Outdoor Cinema, according to Sam Harris, a regional marketing executive for Picturehouse’s London and Brighton cinemas, is the increased amount of freedom they have when it comes to going about their showings. As Sam puts it, “It gives us a bit more space to have more fun, it’s not just people turning up for the film, getting their popcorn, and going into the screen, it’s more like event cinema, and everyone there is on the same page and relaxed.”

Outdoor Cinema will have 12 different screenings over two weekends each in June and August. Cult classics, personal favourites, and films from the 1970s to today, Sam ensures that the programming offers films that cater to everyone’s taste. He believes that because of the wider freedom of Outdoor Cinema, “You can have a lot more fun with the programming in that sort of way.”.

Undeniably, the higher temperatures during the summer months can result in higher chances of extreme weather, which could lead to screenings being cancelled. Sam is aware of this, and jokes that “You can’t go to an outdoor cinema in Britain and expect it to be sunny all of the time”. However, depending on the film, it could add to the experience. Sam remembers doing a screening of Top: Gun Maverick a few years ago on an incredibly windy day, and noted “It’s like 4DX, it’s like you’re really in the sky flying.”

Previous showings at Preston Manor have included the likes of Jaws, Mamma Mia, and Rocky Horror Picture Show. Whilst the selection for this year’s offerings at Preston Manor is still undecided, Sam promises that there are “some really fun ideas, there’s going to be some music, some bangers, some old favourites, the lineup is maybe the best we’ve ever done, I hope.”

If outdoor cinema isn’t appealing, perhaps outdoor theatre may interest you. Brighton Open Air Theatre (or BOAT for simplicity) has been at Dyke Road Park since 2015, founded by the late Adrian Bunting, whose vision of an outdoor theatre has lived on through the founding trustees of BOAT. Last year, to mark 10 seasons since opening in 2015, BOAT opened with Adrian’s play ‘Kemble’s Riot’, an Edinburgh Fringe award-winning play.

BOAT themselves are a charity organisation, meaning they don’t get any funding, and instead fundraise themselves each year through ticket sales, donations and profits from the bar. Nevertheless, Tanya Macleod, the operations manager at BOAT since 2018, believes there is a certain kind of magic about the venue. Calling it ‘the theatre that friendship built’, she said, “The site and location are gorgeous, when all the wildflowers and the sun are out, it’s magical, and it’s quite traditional, not just because it’s a Greek amphitheatre, but because we’re part of a touring circuit of companies who arrive, they perform their show and then they go off. It has that village community feel to it that’s quite rustic.”

The longstanding nature of BOAT has meant they have built strong relationships with companies over the past decade. Whilst Tanya understands that some companies might not come back, owing to reasons such as some shows not translating to outdoor theatre compared to indoor theatre, she said: “We’re always encouraging new companies, there’s a lot of handholding, to begin with, whilst they get used to this unique setup. It’s an overview of a giant puzzle, but we want to give everyone a fair chance.”

BOAT’s lineup this year starting from the 2nd of May, as described in their brochure, ‘offers a wide selection of shows, including some old favourites as well as new and exciting productions’. From the likes of Shakespeare plays such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, to their annual Summer Comedy Festival, where the showing featuring famous comedian Romesh Ranganathan sold out in a record 8 hours, to I Joan, a modern re-telling of the story of Joan de Arc, there is something for everyone this summer.

As the summer draws nearer, perhaps it might be worthwhile to experience a new change of scenery and experience screenings in the warm and sunny outdoors at either Preston Manor or Dyke Road Park. You’re more than likely to end up finding something worthwhile that you won’t regret attending.

https://www.picturehouses.com/outdoor-cinema/venue/preston-manor

What’s on

Pic: Laura Mukabaa, Brighton Open Air Theatre, 2024 (copyright provided by Tanya Macleod, BOAT)

Brighton Council, Brighton Life, Ellen McLeay, Green Party, Sue Shanks

Comment: Cllr Ellen McLeay and Cllr Sue Shanks

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As the two ward councillors for West Hill and North Laine, we are delighted to be invited to write a regular column for The Whistler. 

We are representing residents in this area as Green Party opposition councillors, now Labour is the administration running the council. Sue is the opposition spokesperson for Children and Families, as well as a committee member for Planning. Ellen is the opposition spokesperson for Housing, and a co-Chair for the Central Area Housing Panel. We are both are committee members for the People Overview and Scrutiny committee, however our main role is to represent the community of West Hill and North Laine. You can contact us via the council website, just search for Brighton and Hove Contact Your Councillor.

Elected in May 2023, we have been supporting the community with a wide range of local issues, ranging from putting forward a request for a crossing on Buckingham Place, to more bike hangers on Compton Avenue, and steering better communication between Govia Thameslink Railway and CityClean for the clean up of the private land around Brighton Station.

The roads around and nearby Brighton Station have seen a lot of improvement works over the past year. In September, we saw the introduction of a new school streets initiative on St Nicolas Road for St Paul’s School to help children travel to school more safely and reduce traffic issues. As we’ve not received reports since the launch week, we hope that means it is now working for all those who shared initial concerns.

Two junctions along Trafalgar Street were redesigned to improve safety for pedestrians. The closing of the Trafalgar Street/Blackman Street junction was decided following a number of collisions over a three-year period, many involving cyclists. However, we are receiving equally troubling reports about the new junction where Whitecross Street meets Trafalgar Street. We’re engaging with transport officers, and they’re reviewing the situation.

Housing issues make up a lot of our case work, and we’re supporting council tenants and leaseholders in high-rise blocks across the ward to address their need for housing repairs or regarding reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in their blocks. Fire safety is another major concern for these residents and others in the New England Quarter. Following the Grenfell Tower fire, it’s more important than ever for residents have greater transparency on the fire safety of their building. 

Many residents contact us about antisocial behaviour and drugs in our ward – which is a huge challenge for the city. It has been reported that over the past year, the Combatting Drugs Partnership has closed down 38 county lines, which led to 99 arrests and over 8,000 drug seizures and added 80 young people to prevention programmes. These are impressive numbers, but residents still say that drug related ASB is more prevalent than ever. Ellen has been supporting residents badly impacted by this on Zion Gardens. There have been council organised community meetings focused on these issues in other wards. We are asking for one to be hosted in our ward. 

An important part of being a councillor is seeing all sides of a situation. Following reports from the community concerning residents occupying supported accommodation at William Collier House and St Mungo’s, we paid both housing providers a visit. During our time speaking with the housing managers and their residents, we were struck by the incredible work they do. We met some of their success stories – people who have experienced trauma you couldn’t imagine, are now on a journey of recovery, have benefited from training opportunities, and are working to move on into private rental accommodation. Or another resident whose needs were so complex it took the housing team two years to earn his trust. If anything, the visit reinforced the importance of these services for a fair society that gives everyone the opportunity to change, grow and live. 

Many businesses have contacted us about the challenges on New Road relating to anti-social behaviour. Sue represents the council on the Pavilion Trust who have been successful in a bid to improve the gardens which will put new fencing on New Road and the council are looking at a change for the benches. 

We were so sorry to see the loss of a very mature tree on Buckingham Road due to Elms disease – an extremely difficult decision made by the arboriculture team who work hard to conserve the city’s trees. Every summer, the team battle to protect Brighton’s historic collection of beautiful elm trees, and there are two key ways you can support them. Avoid bringing diseased elm wood into the city (that includes logs or timber you might burn). Keep an eye out for elm trees with leaves wilting or turning yellow or brown ahead of autumn (you can report it by emailing elmdisease@brighton-hove.gov.uk with a photo and the tree’s ‘what3words’ location). 

The council’s net zero strategy is hugely important for the city. We hope they will support these efforts with an additional commitment to protecting biodiversity. Protecting the natural world is an important component in achieving net zero. That’s why the reintroduction of glyphosate to the 

city and a recent decision to increase wild verge mowing to six cuts over the summer is concerning.  We are campaigning for an “opt-out” option for neighbourhoods who want to avoid glyphosate being sprayed on their streets. We can support with arranging weed clearing action days for your street. If this would be of interest to you, please reach out.

We are keen to work with the current Labour administration during this challenging economic time. Under the previous administration there was plenty of cross-party collaboration, and it would be great to see that continue in some capacity. We›d like to take this opportunity to respond to misinformation in the previous edition of The Whistler regarding our previous administration, 2020 to 2023. To represent what happened with toilets more accurately, we wanted to share the following timeline – where only one toilet was permanently closed: 

• Early 2020 saw many toilets close in response to the Covid-19 pandemic; these were gradually reopened in the latter part of 2020 / early 2021.

• Norton Road toilets closed permanently in April 2022 due to significant repair issues.

• 11 sites were closed in October 2022 due to financial pressures. These have subsequently reopened, apart from The Level.

• Four sites were closed in autumn 2022 pending refurbishment. These have subsequently reopened. 

We regularly attend community meetings with the London Road Action Team and the North Laine Community Association and would be pleased to meet with residents in the West Hill area as a group and to support the community association. 

We wish you a restful and restorative and a happy 2025.