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Residents object to flats at Old Market in Hove

9:00am Friday 10th April 2009


Residents living near The Old Market in Hove have objected to plans to build penthouse flats above the venue.

They believe the Grade II listed building in Upper Market Street, Hove, should be preserved in its present form.

Last month the venue applied for planning permission to build two glass penthouses designed by architect Nick Lomax, who created the Jubilee Library in Brighton, to help tackle its £900,000 debts.

At a meeting of the city's Conservation Area Group (CAG) planning officers were shown scores of objections to the planned development.

Tom Chavasse, chairman of the Friends of Brunswick Square and Terrace, said the CAG had recommended to Brighton and Hove City Council that the plans be refused.

He said: "The conservation argument now has to be included in the planning officers report for consideration."

Campaigners said the Old Market's cultural importance should not be used as an argument for altering the architectural importance of the building.

But Old Market trustee Stephen Neiman said the centre had no choice but to develop the building to repay ten-year-old debts.

He said: "The Old Market's activities are breaking even, but it is unable to pay off the old debts.

"Developing the flats would be one way to pay off the debts, a grant from the council would be another.

"We have been desperately asking the council for arts council funding but have been told it is not of strategic importance.

"This development is vital to keep the Old Market going.

"The two penthouse flats are on the roof so won't disturb the building in any way."

Julie Gibson, of OLM Pavilion publishers, who have just moved into offices on the site, said: "It would be dreadful for us if it did go ahead."

Should the penthouse plan be approved? Tell us below.


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Your Say YourArgus

pigletstrotters, Brighton says...
9:12am Fri 10 Apr 09

Yes build the penthouses ,,the residents havent done any alterations to their homes now have they,,typical moaners moaning about not getting their own way ,,pop your dummies back in and get on with it .it might even bring the property prices down ,which is all your really bothered about ..

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ShorehamBeachcomber, shoreham says...
10:08am Fri 10 Apr 09

price to pay for having the ridiculous elitest events there.i.e. the violin concerto from a peruvian pig farmer that was discovered washed ashore in a castaway bottle and demanded to be played in complete darkness sold 2 tickets both to concessions

security word real world

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Brappity Brap, Aiiii? says...
10:22am Fri 10 Apr 09

it looks ugly. end of. stop over developing brighton & hove. we dont need wanky houses like this.

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caeos, sussex says...
10:33am Fri 10 Apr 09

why not put up hoarding on the roof as a mock up so we can see the real thing, not an artist impression. that way we can see what i looks like for real

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TheInsider, Brighton says...
10:38am Fri 10 Apr 09

There are literally hundreds of uninhabited properties in Hove and in parts of Brighton that were purchased by investment companies as part of their property portfolios. They don't even rent them out. They sit empty supposedly gaining value. This is replicated all over the UK, including places such as Cardiff and Manchester
Very few of these grand schemes attract "domestic" purchasers and the council should stop granting planning permission for such developments. They should stick to granting permission (where suitable) for properties which are going to be lived in.
The council knows this is going on. I doubt very much these penthouses will sell as the investment companies have been left with huge losses on their existing property portfolios and of course.

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quedula, brighton says...
11:17am Fri 10 Apr 09

TheInsider wrote:
There are literally hundreds of uninhabited properties in Hove and in parts of Brighton that were purchased by investment companies as part of their property portfolios. They don't even rent them out. They sit empty supposedly gaining value. This is replicated all over the UK, including places such as Cardiff and Manchester
Very few of these grand schemes attract "domestic" purchasers and the council should stop granting planning permission for such developments. They should stick to granting permission (where suitable) for properties which are going to be lived in.
The council knows this is going on. I doubt very much these penthouses will sell as the investment companies have been left with huge losses on their existing property portfolios and of course.
None of the points you mention, important though they may seem to you, are planning matters. The Planing Cttee cannot take them into account in coming to a decision.



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EBRA, Brunswick Town says...
12:06pm Fri 10 Apr 09

I live next to this building. If this developement is allowed I will loose my afternoon summer sun and light. Apart from that we do not need this in Brunswick Town. It looks ugly

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TheInsider, Brighton says...
12:35pm Fri 10 Apr 09

I know this quedula, it was a point about the bigger picture of development in the UK rather than about this particular development.
I am sure there are plenty of grounds to object to...such as over development, impact on size of development not to mention the impact on a listed building etc
Unfortunately the council is Tory and they would bulldoze the Pavilion and put a car park on it if they could get away with it and it made money.

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runner, Hove says...
12:54pm Fri 10 Apr 09

The Waterloo Arch with its carefully tended garden, flanked by the Old Market, and sheltered by an expanse of sky is one of Brighton and Hove's iconic and irreplaceable corners. This unwieldy and unwelcome extension would wipe out the sky - and, with it, a priceless slice of old Brighton and Hove. The proposal must not go ahead. Keep the Old Market alive like this and you kill what surrounds it. Including afternoon light and sun into our front room in Waterloo Street.

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Hove_person, Hove says...
1:23pm Fri 10 Apr 09

There are several interconnected issues with this application.

We live in a city with about 14% Listed architecture, roughly twice the national average. Many have selected the city as their home, or decided to remain resident here, because they admire the historic environment.

The historic architecture contributes to our city's character and attracts large number of visitors here, who put money into the local economy.

Brunswick Town is one of the architectural jewels in our City and should, perhaps, be receiving more effort to aid its preservation as a Regency treasure than its transformation to a 21st century hybrid with glass boxes mounted on historic brick and rendered elevations.

Yes, we can develop everything around us to the Nth degree but if there's genuinely a purpose in Listing and protecting buildings, perhaps we should embrace the concept and protect what's valuable from inappropriate transformation.

I can't think of many 'interventions' locally that have genuinely improved our historic buildings. Let's not practice on a wonderful piece of Brunswick Town.

Anyway, there's already been three implemented schemes to save the Old Market and its Trust, all of which have had negative impacts on the historic environment in and around the building. Now we are told another is required.

This time the plan is attracting more attention than past applications but , in the round, it's starting to seem like a regular occurrence and, if permission were granted for 'the box', it seems likely that in two or three years time the Trust would be back, asking for yet another 'little' concession.

What will they propose next time? A glass tower built on top of 'the box', on the basis the area has lost it's historical significance, due to previous planning decisions?

I urge the planner to say NO on this occasion.

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TheInsider, Brighton says...
1:35pm Fri 10 Apr 09

The artists impressions never convey accurately the impact of such development. I recall the artist's impressions of the Glasshouse development (opposite the Royal Pavilion) representing a beautiful Victorian glasshouse, a delicate structure with glass reflecting the iconic Pavilion image, a sympathetic development in harmony with its surroundings......in truth the structure looks like an old Boots store made using industrial steel and is an utter disgrace and should have been stopped half way through construction.
And as its on a busy road, the glass has a film of dirt on it so there is never an image of the Pavilion reflected on it.
It's an eyesore.


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Hermen, Hove says...
2:17pm Fri 10 Apr 09

Residents in this area have had their applications for loft conversions in Grade 11 listed buildings turned down. Why should The Old Market building be an exception? The Old Market Centre has windows on the north-east corner which do not meet planning regulations. They are modern in appearance and should be replaced with period windows. Perhaps Mr Neiman should attend to these windows before taking on such an enormous project. It certainly does not make any sense ruining a building to clear a £900,000 debt irrespective of how popular the architect is.. Resident are determined that this project will not go through. It is not in keeping with the period architecture of this area.

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pardonmeboy, brighton says...
4:29pm Fri 10 Apr 09

I say, leave the Old Market as it is. I live close by and was denied adding a balcony to my property even though numerous properties in the area have balconies. The Old Market has been mismanaged, so we all have to pay the price by having 2 penthouses built. No, no, no.

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boblat, Brighton says...
5:14pm Fri 10 Apr 09

That artists impression looks terrible! Where do they think they are? On the moon?
Back in the 70s, when we had this building under offer, there was outline planning permission for 4 stories of dwellings on the roof. As long as the design matched the original building.
Unfortunatly, the Arts Council was the preferred candidate, so live with your dreams artsy fartsy. Bankruptcy is now your best way out!

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boblat, Brighton says...
5:14pm Fri 10 Apr 09

That artists impression looks terrible! Where do they think they are? On the moon?
Back in the 70s, when we had this building under offer, there was outline planning permission for 4 stories of dwellings on the roof. As long as the design matched the original building.
Unfortunatly, the Arts Council was the preferred candidate, so live with your dreams artsy fartsy. Bankruptcy is now your best way out!

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ICantThinkOfAName, LANCING says...
5:39pm Fri 10 Apr 09

Why don't they run an indoor market there on a Sunday. It's nearer the city centre than is the Marina.

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Hove_person, Hove says...
6:03pm Fri 10 Apr 09

ICantThinkOfAName wrote:
Why don't they run an indoor market there on a Sunday. It's nearer the city centre than is the Marina.
Nice idea 'ICantThinkOfAName' but you can't run an outdoor market there. The last piece of outdoor ground originally associated with the market was developed by the Old Market Trust in the 1990s!

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Valerie Paynter, Hove says...
10:10pm Fri 10 Apr 09

As usual the computer generated simulated images underplay impact and appearance. According to those supplied by Nick Lomax of LCE for his design, the sun will always shine and pretty white fluffy clouds will always be reflected off the mirror glass walls of the proposed penthouse flat. On a grey day, a block of grey glass looming on top of the Grade 2 Listed Old Market will sit like a porkpie hat on top of it. The lapse of judgment exercised by Nick Lomax in proposing this mirrored glass penthouse will prove tragic and cringe-making if it is built. His reputation will be in tatters and the Listed status of the Old Market will be in peril. How can it remain a Listed treasure with a mirrored glass chavhouse slapped on top? That level of bling is sick. What kind of sunlight glare and flaring would it impose through the windows of near neighbours when the sun shines?

On Thursday I walked out of Green Park into The Mall in London and glanced over to Buck House. Looming over it to the south was a single gunmetal grey towerblock of offices. It absolutely destroys the setting of that whole area and its weight of history, grandeur, gravitas and beauty. I felt so sad. And my pride in our heritage was dented. Real contempt went into building that piece of *******!

I cannot bear the thought of hubris, gall, arrogance and ego succeeding in destroying the integrity of the Old Market and its setting in order to allow mismanagement a breather in order to lose even more money that will require perhaps another bit of building in the future to be added to the insults to date. They arn't even in serious debt yet! This is meant to bail them out when they get there!

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TheInsider, Brighton says...
11:44pm Fri 10 Apr 09

I walked past the Glasshouse in the Steine this evening.....this building was sold to us (via the artists impressions) as an elegant Victorian glasshouse in sympathy its neighbour the Pavilion but actually looks like a 1990s Boots store. An exposed steel girder facing the public path had been used as a receptacle for rubbish and it housed two empty Special Brew cans....that seems to have been missed from the impressions when they were published.
The impressions of this development seem a little unrealistic.

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Siren, Hove says...
11:30pm Sat 11 Apr 09

There is widespread opposition to this inappropriate proposal. The Jubilee Library may be a fine building, but who wants a slice of it slapped on top of a Grade II Listed Building in a Conservation Area? (except for profit, of course). The company which has taken over the Old Market should get on with its job of providing us with an arts centre, rather than alienating the community with intrusive, unwanted property development. We rely on the City planners to give this application short shrift.

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hornbeam, hove says...
10:48am Sun 12 Apr 09

I oppose this application as a resident who values the beautiful Brunswick environment and has no wish to see it selfishly ruined and devalued.City planners,please turn down the application.

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areyouserious, hove says...
10:04am Tue 14 Apr 09

pigletstrotters wrote:
Yes build the penthouses ,,the residents havent done any alterations to their homes now have they,,typical moaners moaning about not getting their own way ,,pop your dummies back in and get on with it .it might even bring the property prices down ,which is all your really bothered about ..
This a grade 2 listed building in a conservation area. This should not be about the financial stability of the Old Market Theatre, its about the plonking of a greenhouse on a beautiful listed building. It was sympathetically restored and extended in 1998, it would now be sytematically destroyed by the placing of this montrosity on the roof. The aritists interpretation is hilarious, it makes the glass appear transparent, as though it is not there, even the clouds can be seen continuing from the sky through the glass! If you want to see what it really looks like check out the plans online. Stamp on this application from a great height because if the build goes ahead and the Old Market Fails then we will stuck with this monstrosity for good.

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areyouserious, hove says...
10:10am Tue 14 Apr 09

pigletstrotters wrote:
Yes build the penthouses ,,the residents havent done any alterations to their homes now have they,,typical moaners moaning about not getting their own way ,,pop your dummies back in and get on with it .it might even bring the property prices down ,which is all your really bothered about ..
This has to be the most immature of posts. This is not about a small alteration, it is a full scale structural addition to a grade 2 listed building in a conservationa area! I think someone else needs to pop there dummy back in, learn to read and reason and realise the full impact of this development. What is this ramble about house prices, this development would not alter house prices either way, the recession has a lot more to do with that.

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El Burro, The Hollingbury Aggro Men says...
1:06pm Wed 15 Apr 09

To: The Argus
RE: stories like this

Please could you just change the title to read "Residents everywhere oppose everything, especially change", and then list the two opposing parties underneath. This would save time, and improve the quality of most articles.

Also, the fact that you sent your chief reporter to comment on this pressing issue worries me.

yours,

El

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An artist's impression of the flats at the Old Market An artist's impression of the flats at the Old Market


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