In the summer of 2013 Brighton and Hove City Council demolished the Landmark Victorian New England Inn (more recently known as The Cobblers Thumb) which they had owned since 1989 despite the fact that this building had survived the aerial bombing of the area during the Second World War.
The building had survived an earlier attempt at demolition when it was included within the “breeze into Brighton” and Borough Plan policies to widen roads in the area 25 years ago.
The New England Inn (like many traditional pubs) had accommodation for bar staff within its premises so there was some loss of housing here as well. It could also have been converted into a community bar/café or alternative funding could have been found to restore the premises.
There was the absolute minimum of consultation about the demolition and very few people were given any information about the plan to knock it down.
If this wasn’t enough, some of the local councillors within the current Administration still haven’t learnt any lessons. Seventy years on from the end of the Second World War, the Green Party pet project – the i360 “Observation Tower” – has also involved the demolition of some of the historic seafront arches near the West Pier which formed a part of Britain’s sea defences against possible Nazi invasion, including the site of an old gun emplacement.
The Green Party Councillors clearly cannot be trusted to protect our history, respect our heritage or protect the interests of our City.
Robert Heale, Brighton resident
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