You may be alarmed to have seen that the Phoenix Trustees instructed Martyn Gerrard to sell the land at the rear of the cinema and that a sale has been agreed subject to contract. 

Please read the updates section below for more information on how things are progressing or take a look at this for general info. 

Despite calls from some members of the local community to pause the sale of the land and consider the implications and wider opportunities, the Trustees are pressing ahead.  This will curtail the cinema's ability to take a more visionary approach.  As plans now stand,  the Trustees will have neither control of what is built directly adjacent to the cinema building, nor the implications for local residents and the community.

The Phoenix’s website, says it is 'a cinema run by the people for the people. Our institution's main goal is to find a path to a prosperous independent future'. We argue that consulting with the wider community is surely to be part of that process before any land is sold. 

The Trustees plan is to shoe-horn in a small second screen into the former café area on the first floor. However, with the Phoenix maintaining control, the land (currently for sale) may well accommodate a second, larger screen with a reception and bar area and upgrades via cross-subsidy from flats, grants and crowd funding.  There may also be beneficial partnering opportunities with others, bringing in additional funding.  Such an opportunity needs to be explored and presented to members and the wider community. 

The Phoenix is London's oldest, continually running, purpose-built cinema. Constructed in 1910 and opening its doors to the public in 1912, it has welcomed visitors for over 100 years as an independent cultural and community hub.  The land being sold is an integral part of the Phoenix, a vital resource for developing a more resilient future for the cinema.

Please sign and share this petition calling for the Phoenix Trustees to immediately halt the sale of the land and to set up a meeting of Phoenix members and the local community, so they have the opportunity to discuss the sale of the land and whether the viability of a mixed-use development, with the Phoenix maintaining control, should first be explored. 

Stephen Kersley MRTPI - East Finchley resident and long-time member of the Phoenix 

Ruth Kersley - Teacher, glass artist; creator of the Phoenix Window, East Finchley resident and long-time member of the Phoenix 

Rachael Harvey - Commercial Property Designer, Community Group Leader and Phoenix Member 

If you have any questions or would like to hear our ideas about how the land could be used more productively to generate income and ensure the long term future of the phoenix, please get in touch! If you'd like to offer your professional skills to consider the site, please also get in touch at  phoenixcommunity12@gmail.com ​

https://www.instagram.com/land_phoenix_cineman2/?igsh=aTZzYWZmMDR1YmVs&utm_source=qr

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The land in full use