Hove Civic Society

January 2017 newsletter investment and maintenance and we hope to package all Chairman’s letter this and share it with you in the next newsletter. We might even make this our focus for the 2017 Forum in April. Dear Members, Why do we do this? Apart from being one of our objectives I firmly believe that we need these initiatives A happy and healthy New Year to all of you! to counter in a very modest way the cuts happening to Council expenditure. I don’t think many people have yet New Year is a good time to look at not only personal realised the cumulative impact of the cuts for the coming objectives but also those of the organisations we are years and I fear that inevitably our environment will be the involved in. The objectives of Civic Society are area that will suffer most. straightforward and simple: I have had many discussions with local politicians, a. To encourage high standards of architecture and town business leaders and local residents and whilst many planning in Hove. are astounded at the run down nature of much of our public space, nobody has been able to explain to me why b. To educate the public in the geography, history and we collectively seem to accept it as inevitable. I doubt architecture in Hove. that many of us would let our living room deteriorate to the standard of our pavements, streets and other public c. To encourage the preservation, development and space. improvement of features of general public amenity or historic interest. I am delighted that we have new members on the committee willing to give this agenda a whirl – anybody Our first objective we achieve in the main through our who wants to join or help in another way please let me continuous watch and comments on planning applications know. and the development of city planning policy. However, increasingly we have taken the view that architecture and Finally a few words about our objective b. Our planning doesn’t just involve buildings but also the educational role has hitherto largely been fulfilled by our spaces in between. Many of those spaces are woefully lecture programmes, where attendance has been neglected and ignored but with some improvements could moderate at best. Best attendance has been at our make for a much better city to be enjoyed by us all. Forum events and at the AGMs. The programme requires much preparation and is connected with fixed costs, This is the reason why we are very supportive of planning which occur whether we have a large or small audience. proposals such as the Hove Gardens scheme in Conway Street by Matsim, where the developer is prepared to set For this winter we have, after much debate, changed the aside £1m for environmental improvements to the streets times to have a standard evening slot and we are surrounding the development. monitoring the results. For next year Clare Tikly is standing down after having produced several years of If permission is granted to the scheme we would see a excellent programmes and we urgently need a substantial and much needed uplift in the area, which replacement. Perhaps this will push us to review in more could trigger further improvements by private investment. depth our lecture programme and how we will deliver it. Whilst we are supporting the very well designed scheme as a whole, we believe that this proposed investment at With best wishes ground level starts to provide critical enhancements at eye level – that is the part of a new development which Helmut Lusser people will experience most. This is also why we are supporting the objectives for King Alfred as we heard in April, where much effort will be Membership subscriptions spent on designing the spaces between the new buildings to create an eminently usable, attractive and welcoming Please can I remind all members that subscriptions are atmosphere. In that context it doesn’t matter if a building now due for the year 2016-2017. At only £12 for a single is ten or 15 storeys high, or in the case of King Alfred, 17, and £20 per couple’s membership this represents good 18 or 20. If it is well designed then height is only one of value, covering as it does, our series of winter lectures, many concerns and height alone should never determine summer events and 3 newsletters per year. whether a building is permitted or not. We would strongly recommend that members pay via However, I am straying, my point is that we need to be standing order as this helps us to reduce time spent on concerned with the space between buildings as much as administration. The necessary standing order instruction with the buildings themselves – a key to good town you can find at the bottom of the membership application planning. This is why your committee at the moment is form. Go to: carrying out a review to explore to what extent we can be more involved in encouraging developments and http://www.hovecivicsociety.org/sites/hovecivic.org.uk/ improvements to our public spaces, much of which are in files/hcs-application-form.pdf conservation areas. This of course also relates to objective ‘c’. Also, may I remind members to ensure that we are kept up to date should you change your email address. This is We expect our programmes on Street Tree Planting and particularly important so that we can continue to remind the Hove Sculpture Plinth to continue and evolve. We are you of upcoming events and keep you informed about the exploring how we could pick up on our ideas for a progress of our campaigns via our newsletter. competition to find a better standard for the setting of on- street refuse and recycling containers and we will expect Kindest regards, to play a significant role in the improvement scheme for Subscriptions please! Church Road. Helen Phillips £12 single There are many other ideas being raised at the moment Membership Secretary £20 per couple such as our representation to the Council on seafront [email protected] but a souvenir programme of the Brighton event, “Carve The King Alfred project - a message their names with Pride”, is most interesting. The four plaques were revealed there for the first time, and will be from Rob Starr officially unveiled at separate events this year. Dear Members of Hove Civic Society Lieut. Jacqueline Nearne was born in 1916 and her family relocated to France in 1923. In 1942 Jacqueline and her A short update for you on the current proposal for the King Alfred, bearing in mind that I am still constrained by sister escaped to England via Spain and Portugal. After what I am able to say at this time. Constraints on what I training she was parachuted into France the following am able to say and not say at this time are vital to year, and she carried messages by train to and from ensuring that the project does not break any competition Resistance cells for a year. She was awarded the MBE rules. However, that does not mean it is not extremely and Croix de Guerre, and then worked for the United frustrating for you and for me to be constrained in this Nations in New York until retirement. way. Capt. Ronald Taylor (1916-2002) joined the Royal What I can say here is that the King Alfred project Engineers in 1939 and volunteered for the S.O.E. two remains on course and that BHCC seems focused and years later. He trained in Palestine, then was posted to keen for the development agreement to be completed, Italy to assist Italian partisans fighting the Germans. In effectively allowing us to enter into the planning process 1944 his team and the Italians joined up with Yugoslav and of course start fully engaging with the public in a partisans to support their successful struggle. In February consultation process. This is the main focus now for all 1945 they flew back from Yugoslavia to England. Capt. involved in the project. Taylor was awarded a Mention in Despatches and the Italian Partisan Medal. As expected, being a new year and a year since the bid was awarded to my team, there has once again been Capt. Michael Trotobas was born in 1914 of a French press speculation and non-stories floating around. Whilst father and Irish mother. His mother died and as a child I expected this to happen, it is rather unhelpful for the he was sent to live in France, then Ireland, and joined the press to speculate so much and more so to try and sow a Middlesex Regiment in 1933. He was wounded in France seed of doubt on the project. and fortunate to be evacuated from Dunkirk. He then volunteered for the S.O.E. and was parachuted into I can assure you that the France in September 1941. One month later he was arrested, but managed to project is moving ahead escape the following July, returning to England via Spain and Portugal. Two months later he was parachuted into I can“ assure you that the project is moving ahead and so France again, to create a new circuit in and around Lille, much work is being done in the background to ensure and from May 1943 he began sabotage operations. Six that the legal process is followed and completed months later the enemy forced their way into his lodgings correctly and that the development sticks to its core and he was killed instantly. A submission for a Victoria principles of community first. ” Cross was turned down, and he received no award for his remarkable bravery and service. I find that hard to believe The key thing I believe is that any changes that may – a cruel decision. occur from the original proposal to the eventual development is that the community engagement and ground floor regeneration of the area will be unchanged from what I have been championing for the last few years. Please bear with me, my team and the Council and I assure you that we will deliver an extraordinary and exciting regeneration to the west of the seafront that keeps the community at its core. Learning Network Thank you Capt. Edward Zeff was born into a British Jewish family Rob Starr in 1904, and moved to Paris in 1922 to join the family Chairman & Founder - Starr Trust tailoring business. He then returned to Britain with his French wife in 1940. He joined the Royal Signals, then volunteered for the S.O.E. as a radio operator, a perilous History and heritage task. He was nearly caught in Lyons but managed to get away. However, he was betrayed and captured as he was about to cross the Pyrenees into Spain. Badly tortured in War is a painful experience to recollect, with cruelty, Paris, he held firm and was sent to Mauthausen humanity, fear, bravery on all sides, but there are times concentration camp. Somehow he survived, and was when bravery deserves recognition. subsequently awarded the MBE and Croix de Guerre. He lived for a while in , then returned to the On the Brighton & Hove Commemorative Plaque Panel family business in Paris. we have continued to work on the plaques for four Brighton-born secret agents of the Special Operations The stories of these remarkable people make for sober Executive, culminating in a special ceremony reading – unbelievable bravery. The research was organised by The Secret WW2 Learning Network at the carried out by The Secret WW2 Learning Network and Corn Exchange on November 12. the University of . I think that the commemoration of these wonderful individuals is long overdue. “Carve Unfortunately this clashed for me with my attendance as their names with Pride” is indeed appropriate. Patron of Vilamuseu at the official opening of the Museum by the Regional President in Villajoyosa on November 9, Elaine Evans Following on from the meeting with the Seafront Officer, a Seafront shelters letter was written to the City Architect, Angela Dymott, to argue that the shelters should be included in the maintenance programme for 2017. As anyone who walks along Hove prom may have noticed, some of the seafront shelters are in very poor In reply Ms Dymott stated that although there are budget condition. restrictions due to imposed austerity measures, “it has been recognised that Hove shelters, lamp columns and A meeting was held in December with the Seafront seafront railings are a priority for the city and funds will Officer, Toni Manuel, in which HCS expressed their be recommended in the 2017-18 planned maintenance concern about the state of repair of the shelters, railings programme to phase redecorating Hove seafront.” and lamp posts on Hove seafront. Of particular concern is the condition of the shelters on King’s Esplanade and Let’s hope that work can be carried out next summer, Western Esplanade. before the deleterious effects of another winter. These shelters are extremely attractive structures built in With regard to future seafront funding, HCS will argue for the mid 19th century and are Grade II listed. The shelters the ringfencing of funds generated on the seafront (e.g. form a group which contributes greatly to the character from the i360 and rentals). We plan to make a and charm of the Hove seafront. It was agreed that these representation in the context of budget consultations structures are in need of a programme of regular main- early this year and will seek the support of local council tenance and repair, and that it is important for the overall members. appearance of the seafront that these are kept in good condition.

support, or oppose, or to recommend improvements to Planning update the proposed schemes. Among the recent cases we have supported are: At a strategic level, the Society has made formal • The proposed “Hove Gardens” scheme for the Ellen comments on the Council’s scoping document for Part II Street area - with its potential to rejuvenate this of the City Plan. We particularly emphasised the need for neighbourhood and raise the quality of the public realm. improved policies to meet the forecast housing needs of (The application is still under planning consideration.) the city. • The former “Texaco petrol station” site on the Kingsway. Among other suggestions, we have made the case for a We supported the overall approach to the development, more radical approach towards the built-up while pressing for more extensive planting and areas already identified as “development areas” - this landscaping in the vicinity. (The application was approved would be far more effective than a piecemeal approach by the planning committee in December.) for developing smaller sites on the edge of the urban fringe. We have also commented with proposals to • The proposed treatment of the “Medina House” site on improve planning policies to support the local economy King’s Esplanade. The dereliction of the site has been and local employment, open spaces and the public realm, a problem for many years. The proposed new dwell- including built heritage and the arts. ing, which would replace the derelict bath-house, is an elegant design which will re-establish a landmark feature We had earlier made representations to support the on this part of the seafront. The scheme also manages Waste and Minerals plan, to release the old coal yard to preserve the remnants of the old pool-side area, with site (off Sackville Road) for more beneficial uses in the its distinctive tiling. (The application is awaiting planning future. This view has now been accepted by the inspector consideration.) reviewing the plan, so we are pleased that the site will become one that is potentially available for housing and Getting involved in individual cases such as these is often other uses. very interesting, but it can involve quite a lot of time and effort. We would welcome help from any members who We also continue to monitor individual planning might be interested in the sharing the load! applications, in order to make representations to the Council on the more significant cases - whether to Bob Ryder, Vice Chair Hove Stories: Dogs and their owners

Hove Stories: Dogs and their Owners

There are an awful lot of dogs in Hove! Sometimes the dog really suits its owner – like the girl who has chosen a dog to match her hair – and sometimes the pairings are more incongruous. But you can always see the close bond of affection between the two. Celia Britton

(If you would like to see some more of my photos, have a look at my website: http://brittoncelia.wix.com/photography)

Announcing the first sculpture for Hove Plinth

We are delighted to announce that the sculpture “The work extends beyond its physical presence and ‘Constellation’ by Jonathan Wright will be the first work to becomes a point of reference that means many things to be installed on the plinth once it has been inaugurated. many people. The objects become magical, infused with As funding for building Hove Plinth is nearly secured, we meaning. A local constellation.” are now seeking sponsorship for this sculpture and will commission it and the plinth at the same time once We invite you to join in the dialogue about ‘What makes funding for both is obtained. Hove, Hove?” Have a look at the preliminary ideas and icons and send your thoughts and suggestions to Constellation is one of the three artworks chosen from [email protected]. submissions to our national competition in 2015. It will be displayed on the plinth for approximately 18 months, followed by “Flight of the Langoustine,” by Brighton based sculptor Pierre Diamantopoulo. There are a number of reasons why we decided to make Constellation the inaugural sculpture. • It is a perfect fit for the location, a celebration of Hove showing off its iconic features. • It will be a collective local effort. The artist will involve local residents and groups in identifying the final set of icons for the sculpture. • It will be produced with the innovative emerging technology of 3D printing. • The production time is comparatively short - around four months. Wright’s creative design is based on an Orrery, a mechanical model of the solar system where the elements of the Orrery that represent the planets are replaced with historic, present day and future features of Hove. The work also incorporates elements of a ship’s compass and a film camera lens. The main structure will rest on a gimbal that allows the work to move slightly, responding to environmental conditions. The icons representing Hove will be approximately 50cm high and produced using various techniques including 3D printing and gilding. Overall, the piece will measure approximately three metres in height and five in diameter. It will cast beautiful shadows on the promenade. The maquette (small model) of the sculpture that Hove Civic Society has commissioned is a prototype for the full- size sculpture and has eight icons chosen after preliminary discussions with local people. These and other ideas will be reviewed through workshops and dialogue to arrive at a final set of icons for the full-size sculpture. Jonathan Wright says of his work, “The idea for the Hove Plinth is to create a work that is part made by the local inhabitants and part made by the location itself. The role of the artist in this project is to provide a basic structure to focus the work as a whole and to guide it to fruition. The work is conceived by the public and engineered by the artist. “The notion of a constellation, a model of the planetary system, an oversized ‘Orrery’ is a perfect fit for the location. We are encouraged to look upward, consider star gazing, a sense of the universe and the place we hold in the world. As well as the local community the installation will involve Brighton Museum and the through a dialogue of workshops Illustration of Constellation with images of preliminary and discussions. There is therefore a widening of the ideas for maquettes. From top left: cricketer, regency audience who are normally involved in the process of house, greyhound, seagull, beach hut, veteran car, delivering artwork in the public realm. windmill, chess piece. HCS Educational Programme

For some years our principle educational input has been to arrange lectures and occasional visits about Hove in the past, in the present and as it develops into the future. After several years of coordinating this programme, with supportive suggestions from some members, I feel that we need to fi nd ways of attracting larger audiences for the lecture programme on a regular basis. This requires greater skills of publicity as well as, I feel, a more up-to-date appreciation about the form of events that appeal to modern audiences with demanding work and personal schedules. Our AGM, with Peter Kyle, MP, was well-attended, and we had a very stimulating lecture by Mark Perry-Nash in November, but it was discouraging that so few members were able to attend on that occasion. However, I have reason to think that the Spring 2017 programme will be rewarding, in terms of both interest and attendance. The schedule is as follows.

Please note that all the indoor events are held in Courtlands Hotel, The Drive, Hove and that you should arrive in good time for a 7pm start. 1) Thursday, 2nd February 2017 Rampion off -shore wind farm “A Comprehensive Update about the Development and Construction Process” by Chris Tomlinson Now that some of the structures are visible on the horizon we thought this would be a good time to ask one of the Rampion team to return to talk to HCS members. Christopher Tomlinson, Development and Stakeholder Manager, is looking forward to doing so. He will illustrate his presentation with on-site photographs of the construction, both onshore and off shore, enabling us know about which developments to expect over the coming months. This will be an ideal opportunity for questions and clarifi cation of the project.

2) Thursday, 23rd February 2017 “The Brunels – Father and Son” by Bill McNaught Following Bill’s exciting lecture last year, it was decided unanimously by those who attended that we would invite him to talk to us again this year. We have chosen an example from Victorian times when infrastructure was already a hot topic and our way of life was changed by the brilliant work of pioneers such as the Brunel family. I am sure that Bill will provide insight into the personal, historical and technical factors that drove this creative energy across a range of practical inventions.

Copyrighted free use: by Owen Dunn 3) Thursday, 23rd March 2017 “City Churches in ” by Dr. Sue Berry Dr. Sue Berry has built up a reputation for her scholarship and ability to give interesting, thought-provoking and meticulously illustrated lectures about the history of our City and beyond. The many places of worship in Brighton and Hove are testimony to the importance of religion and spirituality for citizens, and to the priority that religious and secular authorities have placed, in the past and at present, to support the need to bring people together. Those of you who have heard one of Sue’s lectures on other occasions will realise that she welcomes lively discussion and that we will gain from her wide knowledge and careful exploration of changing human and historical contexts.

Following Sue’s lecture some of you may be interested to fi nd out more about how parish churches in Sussex have changed over thirteen centuries. The Sussex Archaeological Society is running a day conference about this topic, on Saturday, 29th April 2017. The list of speakers and specialist topics is impressive and it will be held in Kings Church, Lewes. For more details visit http://sussexpast.co.uk and follow the links to Events.

4 Thursday, 27th April 2017 Annual Discussion Forum with a Panel of Speakers Each New Year we take a look at obvious needs that are developing in Brighton and Hove and ask ourselves if we, as Hove Civic Society, might be able to contribute in some way to making things better. With the funding for local authorities reducing annually whilst social and infrastructure needs are increasing, we see that the urban spaces in which we move around are becoming neglected. From the state of our pavements to hazards for pedestrians and the unsightly condition of our streets we have decided to invite a panel of experts who have experience of making improvements to the surroundings in which we lead our daily lives. Raising awareness in this way is a start but it would be good if, following our street tree and public sculpture projects, we could energise and organise groups of people to think of some solutions and advocate their implementation. Come along for a lively evening and bring your ideas with you! Developing our Educational Programme I really hope and anticipate that attendance at our Spring lectures will be worthy of the speakers we have invited. The committee is considering changes that might make it possible for more members to attend on a regular basis. Please get in touch with me by email with suggestions and, especially, with any contribution you would be able to make to the planning or organisation of the programme. Clare Tikly [email protected]

The front page of our newsletter is made up of images that show some of the late Victorian heritage in Hove. David Kemp, of DK Architects has created the page. Framed versions are available for sale in diff erent sizes.

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Join our mailing list: [email protected] The Printhouse, Visit our website: www.hovecivicsociety.org 26-28 St John’s Road Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ Hove, East Sussex hovecivicsociety BN3 2FB Follow us on Twitter: @LoveHove Tel: 01273 325667