Cabinet Backs Rebuild Of Leisure Centre At Hove Site

The council’s new cabinet has backed a £47 million scheme to build a new swimming pool and leisure centre at the King Alfred site on Hove seafront.

Cabinet members were asked about refurbishing the 1930s building, carbon emissions and the design concepts outlined in a report published before the meeting at Hove Town Hall yesterday (Thursday 18 July).

One resident, Laura King, asked about protecting the King Alfred’s heritage as a “coastal land ship” where 22,500 men and woman trained during the Second World War.

Councillor Alan Robins, Brighton and Hove City Council’s cabinet member for sports and recreation, said that the King Alfred was a purpose-built leisure centre that was requisitioned during the war as a training base.

The history of the site would be commemorated in some form, he said, adding:

“That piece of history we will be keen to remember.

“However, that short period it was used as a naval training place I don’t think prevents the city from having a modern sports and leisure facility in the area.

“We’re going to employ an archivist to bring all the parts of the history of the last 100 years into focus and make sure the artefacts are collected and preserved.”

To refurbish the existing facilities would cost £14 million and last 10 years so that a rebuild would be needed by 2034.

Portslade Cricket Club chair Anne Nickolson had been ready to object to building a new pool on the Benfield Valley Sports Field, between Old Shoreham Road and the West Hove Sainsbury’s.

She said that a proposed alternative base for the club at Greenleas would have been unsuitable – and Councillor Robins was happy to assure her that the club could stay where it was.

The cabinet report said that building a new pool and leisure centre in Benfield Valley would have been the best economic or financial investment for the council.

But more than 3,600 people responded to a public consultation with most in favour of building a new pool and leisure centre on the seafront site.

The Labour leader of the council said:

“I think, like many people who live in this city, there’s a feeling that this is so long overdue people are desperate for us to get on with rebuilding the King Alfred.

“I know many people have very fond feelings about the King Alfred. I learnt to swim there when I was a pupil at Summerhill School, now Brunswick.

“And my children are currently learning to swim there but I think it’s really clear it no longer meets the needs of our residents.”

Councillor Joy Robinson, cabinet adviser for contract management and procurement, said that in the 19 years since she moved to the area, this was the third proposal for the site.

Councillor Robinson, who represents Central Hove, said:

“We have learnt lessons from the past as to why the other two versions didn’t go forward and we’re approaching this in a different way.

“The sports centre is being designed and built by us and we’re not at the whim of developers.”

Councillor Robinson said that she hoped that the new scheme would be like Splashpoint, in Worthing, with homes built on the remaining land.

Labour councillor Emma Daniel, who also represents Central Hove, said that she had received several emails a day urging the council to listen and keep the leisure centre at the King Alfred site.

Councillor Daniel said:

“There’s a genuine amazement that we came out and said ‘we’re listening to the people who use it’. That’s a sad indictment of politics but hopefully locally and nationally that will change.”

One public question, from resident Mary Sandal, asked about the rough costings and what was meant by a “low rise” “stacked” site.

Councillor Robins said that the stacked scheme, with a nominal capital cost of £47 million, would include an underground car park, possibly over two levels.

It would also include three levels of leisure facilities above ground, with a footprint covering 20 per cent of the site. The rest would be sold for housing.

The alternative low-rise scheme would nominally cost £40 million and include a surface car park and up to two storeys for the leisure centre, covering half the site, with the rest sold for housing.

The cabinet agreed that design work for the scheme could start with a view to bringing the project to the planning application stage.