Recently, Captan Sensible of The Damned was part of a group protesting development plans to convert the Brighton Hippodrome into an ultra-modern movie theater. Developers the Alaska Group, in conjunction with Vue, a theater company, confirmed that after a written petition and protests took place, that the development of the property, which would almost certainly result in destruction of the historic venue, would not go through.
Protest group spokesman Paul Zenon stated, “We are extremely pleased with this news. This means the planning application cannot go ahead as it stands. But the company employed 24-hour security on the site over Christmas so we are not sure what is going on at the moment. We are viewing this as a temporary reprieve.â€
The Brighton Hippodrome, named after the famed Greek structure, was built in 1897 and went on to host hundreds, or thousands, of famous acts, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and many, many more. Captain Sensible, who was on the front lines of the protest on various days, stated, "Watch out… Sensible's on his soapbox again - this time as part of the Save The Brighton Hippodrome campaign. The Beatles and Stones played here back in the day.. before the place fell into disrepair and subsequently closed - and now new owners have plans to knock this lovely old place down to be replaced by a multiplex cinema - when Brighton's full of the bloomin' things."