Plans for the ambitious project to create “a JW3 for Brighton” have been approved by the local council.
By a seven to five majority, councillors gave the green light for the redevelopment of Brighton and Hove Hebrew Congregation’s New Church Road building to incorporate housing, a new synagogue and cross-communal facilities such as a kosher café, a functions hall and an employment support resource.
The narrowness of the vote reflected more than 700 objections to the BNJC development on size, environmental and parking grounds.
Addressing the meeting, Brighton and Hove FC chairman and Bloom Foundation head Tony Bloom said: “The site was on the verge of being sold to a commercial developer, threatening the survival of the Jewish community.
“The Bloom Foundation has stepped in with an alternative to build facilities for all the local community.
“We will reverse the vicious cycle of falling membership and the loss of young Jewish families in the city.”
In a subsequent statement, the Bloom Foundation expressed “delight that this important regeneration project has been given the go-ahead.
“It will provide a beautiful synagogue, new housing and a range of educational, workspace and social amenities for all to enjoy.”
Project trustee Marc Sugarman told the JC that “too many provincial Jewish communities in the UK have fallen below a critical mass and faded away.
“We now have an opportunity to build something special to revitalise Jewish life in Brighton and Hove — and, at the same time, enrich the entire local community.
“At the heart of our design is the outdoor space — the buildings are designed around a central avenue of trees and we are creating a peaceful haven with a central courtyard and allotment space.
“This will be a high quality, sustainable development built for the long term.
“An ambitious project of this nature will generate opposition. We have a responsibility now to continue to communicate with our neighbours to try to allay any concerns and to show that we are creating something that they too will value in the future.”
Mr Sugarman added that while the initial focus would inevitably be on the facilities, “the ultimate success of this project will be built on creating a real sense of community.
“We have a strong commercial relationship with our next-door neighbour, St Christopher’s School, for which we will be providing additional classroom space and other facilities — and will beworking with them to create meaningful programmes for pupils and parents.”
BNJC had already “delivered some outstanding events and more will follow. We will work hard to continue to draw in people and institutions from across the community. There is a lot of work to do and it is incredibly exciting.”
Also welcoming the council decision, Brighton and Hove Hebrew Congregation chair David Seidel noted: “It has taken a long time and a lot of endeavour to get to this stage.
“We are immensely grateful for the support we have received from the Bloom Foundation, as well as from our members, the wider community and the professional teams. This is an important milestone.”
Leaders of the group working to establish a Jewish school in the area said they share “the vision and ambition to regenerate the UK’s fifth largest Jewish community.
“Our plans to build a Jewish faith primary school which is ecologically sustainable and which will also accept children of other faiths and none, have now reached the early stages of the Department for Education’s application process,” reported group chair David Shinegold.
“We know there are many exciting challenges ahead. But this week’s news further inspires us in our bid to attract Jewish families to one of the most appealing locations on the South Coast.”
A school is seen as the final piece in the jigsaw of communal revival.
It is hoped that construction work on the BNJC project will start this summer with completion in two years.
