Skip to content

Category: Events venue

Published on

The Brighton Unitarian Church in New Road is a striking building. It stands on what was originally part of the Royal Pavilion gardens. The Prince Regent sold it to the Unitarian congregation in 1819 for £650, allegedly to help stave off bankruptcy.

Just over a year later the church was finished. The architect, Amon Henry Wilds drew inspiration from the temple of Theseus in Athens, giving the building an immense pediment and columns which still dominate the east end of new Road.

The story today

Sadly, these features of the building are now decaying. As a result, it has been added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register. Attempts are being made to obtain a restoration grant.

Read more about the Portico Repair Project here.

Meanwhile the church’s activities continue, including an impressive series of weekly lunchtime concerts. The November programme starts on Friday 3rd (12:30 – 1:15 pm; coffee from 12 noon). Pianist An-Ting Chan will play music inspired by animals. See the full programme here.

Published on

The committee has been considering the Council's proposals to create a new conference and events centre at Black Rock for some time. The Council wants to fund the new centre with a deal involving Standard Life Investments (SLI). This is a complex and far reaching scheme which includes a much enlarged Churchill Square shopping centre. We're calling for much more consultation about it.

We need to know more

Despite its very significant scale, there is little information about this proposal.

...continue reading "Consultation on the Waterfront Project: we want to know more"

Published on

April 2017

We’ve written before about the Council’s plan to create a new conference and events centre at Black Rock. They intend it to replace the Brighton Centre. We are aware that this has the potential to make major changes in our city and we are keen to know how this is progressing.

...continue reading "The latest (or lack of it) on the Waterfront Project"

Published on

2016

The Council is planning to create a new conference and events centre at Black Rock. The plan is for Churchill Square shopping centre to be extended to occupy the site of the current Brighton Centre, which would be replaced by the new facility at Black Rock. This proposal took a step forward at the Policy and Resources Committee meeting on 28 April where it received cross party support. 

We are concerned about the possible impact of the new centre on heritage, and the capacity of the Black Rock site for such a large venue. The transport infrastructure is another worry if thousands of people are likely to be attending major events. 

We will keep a close eye on this story and report as soon as there is more to tell.