Coming next month . . .

. . . in Brighton Museum & Art Gallery

On 15th. February:

Anita Corbin 100 First Women Portraits is the culmination of her 10-year personal mission to capture the portraits of modern female trailblazers.

Read more.

On 22nd. February:

Researched and curated by residents of Brighton & Hove, Queer the Pier allows the visitor to explore selected experiences of LGBTQ+ people in Sussex over the last 200 years, beginning with a blackmail letter written in 1798 from a solicitor to an army captain, accused of propositioning another man on a coach to Dorking.

Read more.

Royal Pavilion Garden plans

Possible new entrance

Plans to restore and safeguard the historic Royal Pavilion Garden are back on track. An updated bid of £214,500 for National Heritage Lottery funding was sent in earlier this week. This bid is for funding to prepare detailed plans and an application for a full grant of £3.3 million.

After a previous application was turned down earlier this year the council was encouraged to re-apply by the Heritage Lottery assessors who noted the heritage importance of the project, the need to improve the garden and praised the community involvement which backed the bid.

The plans include:

• Improving access to the gardens for people with disabilities and a installing a new 'Changing Places' toilet
• New lighting and a secure boundary to address vandalism and anti-social behaviour
• Conserving and restoring listed lamp posts and balustrade, flowerbeds, paths, lawns and improving recycling, lighting and seating
• Overhauling the entrances, installing new gates and signs
• Creating a new programme of events, activities and volunteering opportunities
• Improving interpretation with maps and information boards, audio tours and an archival research project.

The National Heritage Lottery Fund is expected to make a decision in November. If agreed, the council will aim to submit the full bid in March 2021 with work starting in January 2022.

Improving and protecting the Royal Pavilion Garden is a key part of the Royal Pavilion Estate project where the council and Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival are working together to reunify the estate and conserve its heritage.

Phase one of the project is underway. The Royal Pavilion Garden is part of phase two.

Pride Parade 2019

A random selection of photos:-

Talking about St. James' Street.

Brighton & Hove Police are inviting members of the local St James' Street community to work with us and @BrightonHoveCC We want to work more closely with people who live and work in the area to help enable us to develop ideas and ambitions for the neighbourhood

Patcham Duck Fayre returns.

After a hiatus of 14 years Patcham Village reclaims Old London Road from traffic for a day and the event promises to be bigger & better than ever.

Pride Village Party consultation

A consultation opens today on the future of the Pride Village Party which has been an annual popular event in and around St James’s Street for many years.

Up until 2015 the event was not organised officially by either the council nor by Pride itself, instead, visitors independently congregated in the area attracted by the LGBTQ+ bars and clubs that exist there. Since 2015 Pride organisers have managed the PVP and have put resources in place to manage the disruption to local people including additional security personnel, street cleaning and toilets. It is now a ticketed event limited to certain parts of St James’s Street and neighbouring roads.

The council is now seeking the views of residents and businesses on the future of the PVP, including whether it should continue, where it should take place and any other changes people would like to be made to the event.

The consultation closes on 31 Jan 2019 and the responses will be reported to the Tourism, Development and Culture committee in March 2019.

For a paper copy of the questionnaire leave your name & address  on 01273 292100.

Burning the Clocks 2018

Brighton charity Same Sky has launched its crowdfunder for Burning the Clocks 2018, which takes place from 6.30pm on Friday 21 December 2018. The parade runs from New Road to the seafront, with around 2,000 participants and more than 20,000 onlookers.

The theme for Burning the Clocks 2018 is ‘Remembrance’. Event organisers Same Sky have created a large-scale lantern in the shape of a heart for this year’s event. This will be surrounded by smaller Remembrance hearts carried by procession-goers on the night of the parade.

As in previous years, Brighton residents can purchase lantern packs to take part in the parade (costing £30-£33, available from early November). Lantern packs contain materials, instructions and four wristbands for four people to take part in the parade. They will be available for purchase at Brighton Pavilion, HISBE supermarket in York Place, the Wood Store on Elder Place and Book Nook in Hove.

Local artist Graham Carter has generously created a new limited edition print for Burning the Clocks for the sixth year running. These are also on sale to raise funds, with 80 limited edition designs created around this year’s theme of ‘Remembrance’.

For more information on purchasing lantern packs and Graham Carter’s prints, visit Same Sky’s Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/SameSkyBtn/. Businesses and restaurants interested in getting involved with the event as a sponsor or participant should contact jasmine@samesky.co.uk.

Madeira Terraces turned down for Heritage Lottery Grant

The application for £5M funding, the maximum allowed,  submitted in March 2018 met the Heritage Lottery Fund's criteria but the Board of Trustees had to take decisions on more projects than the available budget would allow.

The council will now be talking urgently with Heritage Lottery Fund about a resubmission of the bid in August.

Decision makers noted the great heritage value of Madeira Terrace, and recognised the project’s considerable potential to support the wider regeneration of the area and bring economic benefit.  The grant would have allowed for the complete restoration of the first 60 of the 151 Madeira Terrace arches.  While this remains under discussion, the council will be moving ahead with the first three arches which were crowd funded in a successful city-backed campaign in 2017.

Griff Rhys Jones, President of the Victorian Society, who supported the council’s bid, said:  “It feels like a setback but these things take time.   This is a stage on the way and a good one.  We must not think it’s over.  It needs even more support.  We recognise there is more competition than ever out there and funds are dwindling. Lots of very successful and important conservation projects have not got there first time but they happened.  And few are more important than this.”

Community campaigner and raffle organiser Jax Atkins added: “It’s disappointing that HLF haven’t chosen to help with the terraces yet but we’re not giving up. There is such strong feeling in the community and so many people are determined to get the project underway.  We will not be waiting around.

“Our midsummer raffle on Saturday raised £9,000 and I’d like to thank everyone who bought tickets and donated prizes, we had over 800 in the end!  Every penny we raise sends a clear message to the council and to funding bodies that the people of Brighton are serious about saving Madeira Terrace so we can once again be proud of our beautiful heritage and the shop window of our city.”

Next steps for the Madeira Terrace project include appointing a design team and obtaining planning and listed building consent.  Work on the first three arches is expected to start towards the end of the year.

There are numerous ways to get involved:

• By making a donation on line. 
• By joining volunteers at the monthly community clean-ups – contact Jax Atkins. Madeira Terraces & Black Rock.
• Buying a specially brewed Mabiera beer.  Local brewery, Brighton Bier, is donating 25% of its profits from the sale of Mabiera to the restoration fund.

If you have fundraising ideas, please contact us: Madeira.Terrace@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Pavilion Gardens public consultation.

BHCC is working on a plan to improve and enhance the popular garden and has launched a public consultation to find out what residents and visitors think.

Up until the 29 June the public will have the opportunity to comment on all aspects of the garden from planting, seating and walkways to attractions and events. Views are also being sought on how to tackle antisocial behaviour and whether a boundary should be created so that the garden can be secured at night.

The council is committed that the garden will remain free and accessible to all as one of the most important green spaces in the city. This survey will support its bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of Phase Two of the Royal Pavilion Estate project.

The results will also feed into the final draft of a conservation and management plan. Historic England recommended the council draw up the plan for the Grade II listed garden.

The Royal Pavilion Garden is one of the few remaining Regency gardens in the country and is considered one of the nation’s most significant outside spaces.

To take part online visit:
www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/royalpaviliongarden

For a paper copy call 03000 290902

More photos:-

Children's Parade 2018