Based on expert advice, the council has identified intolerable specific fire safety risks at New England House that we cannot ignore. As a result, we have temporarily closed New England House with immediate effect for a short time while we put in place the necessary mitigations.
This includes appointing fire wardens to be based in the building and we are currently sourcing them with the aim putting this measure in place by Tuesday 12 November. The building can then be reopened.
The council will also be limiting the opening hours of New England House in future to ensure people are not in their business units late at night or overnight.
Donna Chisholm, Corporate Director – City Services, stated, “We are truly sorry for the inconvenience and potential loss of income this temporary closure causes. The council is committed to ensuring the safety of everyone and are working diligently to reopen the building on Tuesday.
“We recognise the financial impact this may have and will of course offer compensation for specific losses if tenants can provide evidence.
“If you need access to New England House for essential reasons over the weekend or on Monday 11 November, there will be security on site to help arrange access via the main entrance.
“I completely appreciate that the timing of this and the short notice has had a disruptive impact on the many different businesses at New England House. We did not take this decision lightly and had to take immediate action due to the intolerable risks identified.
“We apologise for any upset this might cause and appreciate your understanding as we work to ensure the building is safe for everyone and can be reopened next week.”
The power into the building has not been turned off and tenants can access their units to collect items and turn things off by agreement with the security guards on site.
A meeting with the building’s tenants will be held next week, time and date to be confirmed, where the Fire Engineer’s report and the steps being taken to address the immediate risks will be discussed in detail.
We will continue to provide our tenants with updated information.
If tenants have any specific queries about the closure they can email AMP@brighton-hove.gov.uk