Church St./Portland St. site - added aggravation

This valuable site has been an eyesore in the city centre for 24 years. Now the owners have apparently decided that half an acre is not quite enough to do nothing with.  The hoardings, much to the inconvenience of pedestrians, have been moved out to the kerb lines both in Church Street and Portland Street.

Earlier post: The Church St./Portland St. development site

127/128 Edward Street - then & now

Then 1950s:

Photo:RPM

Now: 2018

Photo:Google

Court Farm Cottages

These cottages of the former Patcham Court Farm, on what is now Vale Avenue,  bear the terracotta insignia of the former vast Abergavenny Estate. The date of their construction is recorded in half-embedded large glass marbles. The builders of the Edwardian era obviously took a pride in their work. After 109 years the brickwork, woodwork & tiling appear as sound as the day they were built. 

They are locally listed as a good and relatively rare example of early 20th century farmworker’s cottages. 

It is therefore disappointing to see them vacant. Unused and unheated properties are prone to accelerated delapidation even if vandalism is avoided. 

The Patcham Court Farm site has in the past been suggested for a park & ride scheme and in May 2012 the DeVere Group withdrew proposals for a 'boutique' hotel. The site has not been put on the Council's brownfield register yet buildings elsewhere on the site are being allowed to fall down. 

At a time of acute housing shortage there seems no reason that the Abergavenny Cottages should not be brought promptly back into use.

A 'Royal Pavilion Estate' Trust.

A report to the Policy, Resources & Growth Committee this Thursday (25 January) recommends the decisions necessary to establish the city’s long-anticipated trust, bringing together the entire historic Royal Pavilion Estate. Previously the council had proposed a two stage process, creating an interim trust and then merging this with Brighton Dome & Festival. The new proposal recommends moving to a single charity in one stage to enable the benefits of joint working and the generation of additional income to support the service, to be felt sooner.

Under the proposal, the RPM would be led by the existing management team, supported by a new board consisting of the shadow board and the current trustees of Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival Ltd. This would maintain the focus on providing professional standards of museum management in the service while allowing for innovation in working across the Royal Pavilion Estate and the city’s other museum sites. The trust would also build on the successful Royal Pavilion Estate project which is bringing together the city’s cultural heart by reconnecting the historic Grade 1 and Grade 2 listed buildings and landscape to create a reunified estate.

The new trust, yet to be named, will have a 25- year- contract which will secure the future of the RPM for the long term. Able to take full advantage of charitable giving, tax and rate relief benefits and access a range of fundraising and commercial development opportunities. Other trusts across the country have been very successful in increasing attendances and raising their own income.

Brighton & Hove is a leading tourist destination with the Royal Pavilion, museums, Brighton Dome venues and Brighton Festival among the most popular visitor attractions. More than 11 million people visited the city in 2016, and the Royal Pavilion Estate’s economic impact is around £62 million a year.

Update 29th Jan 2018

Plans to move the Royal Pavilion & Museums to a single new cultural Trust with Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival have been  agreed by the Policy, Resources & Growth Committee. The move will take place on 1st July 2018.

Shelter Hall progress