Brighton café applies to become music venue

Presuming Ed, in London Road, currently operates as a café and restaurant on the ground floor, with theatre space on the first floor.

A planning application submitted to Brighton and Hove City Council sought permission to expand the performance area on the first floor and to include a bar and exhibition space.

The proposals include using the ground floor as a live music venue in the evenings.

Staff quarters, currently on the first and second floors, would just be on the second floor.

The planning application was prepared with the help of planning consultant Paul Semple.

It said: “Its intentions are to create additional space to run mixed-use events for the whole community and provide an enhanced venue and creative working space to encourage networking, pitching ideas and polishing concepts that will generate independent and creative businesses as well as providing a safe place accessible to all, including groups that might feel marginalised or isolated.

“It would also like to host more events associated with the Brighton Festival, has a planned London Road short film festival as well as proposed in-house pop-up kitchen events, with local chefs and cooking crews.”

Presuming Ed has operated in the former HSBC bank building since 2015, with the café and bar on the ground floor and a 55-seat theatre space for comedy, live theatre and performing art shows on the first floor.

The venue is licensed between 8am to 12.30am daily with performances permitted until midnight.

Presuming Ed said in its planning application that it would also apply to extend its licence until 1.30m although licensing decisions are made by different officials and councillors than planning decisions.

An acoustic assessment found that there was a risk of low-frequency noise late and night which has prompted plans for noise insulation measures on the shared wall with 116 London Road.

The plans said that during musical performances, amplified music would be controlled through a limiter set by environmental health officials.

At the time of writing, no public comments have been left on the council’s website where the application is available to view by searching for BH2025/00717.

Presuming Ed was contacted for comment.