Just days after signing a new 10-year lease, The Bureau of Silly Ideas was served a six-month break notice by its landlord
A grassroots arts organisation could be forced out of its Brixton home after nearly 25 years amid proposed redevelopment of the area’s railway arches. The Arch Company has served arts organisation The Bureau of Silly Ideas with a six-month break notice just days after founder Roger Hartley signed a new 10-year lease, leaving the 60-year-old ‘bewildered’.
The move follows a successfully contested rent hike and has seen a planning application to Lambeth Council describe the occupied units on Valentia Place as ‘underused and derelict’. The Arch Company said the notice was not issued in response to any dispute, and that the lease agreement rectified an undocumented periodic tenancy inherited from the former landlord, Network Rail.
But now, despite winning the rent battle, Roger and his team are once again facing an uncertain future. He told MyLondon: “We’ve been given notice to leave in October. I don’t think there are enough swear words to describe how it felt when we realised what they [The Arch Company] were doing – a WTF moment.
“We were completely shocked as we’d literally shown them the spaces the day before. There might be some different definition of derelict but it doesn’t fit into mine if you’re charging us rent for them.
“They did try to offer us somewhere else to move into with free rent for a year or so but it wasn’t suitable. The space didn’t have a protected lease and had one storey, which doesn’t work when we’re doing circus or trapeze. Plus, we’ve been here so long and become a real part of this community.”
The Bureau of Silly Ideas creates street theatre and public art for events in the capital and across the UK. It also provides performance space, rehearsal rooms and music studios across five arches, as well as facilitating classes for young and disadvantaged people.
Roger fears South London’s creative scene will be irreparably damaged if the long-running nonprofit is pushed out permanently by increased costs. He’s also concerned about the next generation’s access to the arts.
“There are only a few places like us left,” he told MyLondon, “We’ve got people in the workshop, others making music next door, another group storyboarding a film, a gallery downstairs. There’s a whole network that gathers here. If we go, that immediately goes.
“But we also know that we, and the local groups we work with, are a conduit and a path out of hyperlocal estate life. The ones around here are some of the most deprived in the country.
“We run an open door policy for that reason and host workshops that aren’t necessarily mentioning art or culture, but doing practical things like ‘this is how you put up shelves’ and ‘this is how you fix broken tiles’. But the people who come in then see a robot wheelie bin, for example, in the background and we pique their curiosity. That’s how we start those journeys.”
Roger is now looking at various contingency plans, including turning The Bureau into an Asset of Community Value and putting it into community ownership. “The vision is, in theory, that it will last for decades,” he added, “That’s what cities need.”
The artistic director is appealing to the Blackstone-owned Arch Company to consider a Good Growth strategy that focuses on investing in community-rooted tenants that contribute to place identity, footfall, and cultural engagement, as opposed to extracting value quickly. He believes planning policy naturally points in this direction in his case as the arches fall within Brixton’s protected Creative Enterprise Zone.
The Arch Company had withdrawn the initial planning documents and submitted an updated version that separated Arch 555, one of the spaces The Bureau occupies, from the wider application to “recognise the role it plays in the community”, a spokesperson said. Lambeth Council has since rejected the proposal, with the company now considering an appeal.
Roger has had a series of meetings with the authority, Arts Council England, and the Greater London Authority’s culture at risk team to discuss The Bureau’s standing. The Arch Company’s stated position at that time was reportedly to standardise the land and charge an ‘unsustainable’ rate of £30-£35 per square foot, he said.
The Brixton resident added: “The Arch Company wants to invest in the area and that’s great. But we want them to realise that working with us can be a win for their shareholders and a win for the community, and everyone can see good growth happening. I get the concept of free markets and policy but a fair playing field is needed, not just for us but cultural organisations throughout the UK.
“There are business arguments that work both sides. One of them doesn’t do anything for the community, dilutes it, and increases the burden on the state because you remove options for deprived communities. We frequently see a lot of empty places and it doesn’t have to be like that.”
The Bureau has now launched a Crowdfunder in the hopes of raising £50,000 to help keep the operation and campaign going until at least Christmas. A portion of these funds will help the team ‘stay in the room’ and negotiate as they fight the break notice.
The rest of the money will be put towards free events and outdoor theatre while the planning process plays out, as well as the creation of a campaigner role who would connect commercial tenants, cultural organisations and small businesses in similar situations across the country.
“It was really expensive to stay where we are and make our case during the rent dispute,” Roger explained, “We’ve had to let some people go and their main roles were working on the community projects and fundraising. The next thing is to start working towards collectivising and see where we can make a change.”
He also hopes to work with The Arch Company to come up with a different planning application to establish a recognised ‘creative quarter’. This would utilise the currently occupied arches, as well as a number of empty units across the road.
The Arch Company said: “While routine maintenance has been undertaken to keep the arches operational for tenants, parts of the estate have now reached the point where more significant renewal and repair works are required due to the age and condition of some buildings, including issues that predate our ownership. The arches were included in the Brixton Central masterplan process several years before we acquired the estate.”
The company added: “We value The Bureau of Silly Ideas as a customer and remain open to them returning to Valentia Place once the works are complete.”
You can support the Bureau of Silly Ideas on Crowdfunder
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