Senior councillors hit back at leisure centre plan critics

Opposition to a new swimming pool and leisure centre on the King Alfred site spurred senior councillors to criticise campaigners and previous administrations.

At a meeting of Brighton and Hove City Council’s cabinet on April 23, a public question asked about the structure of the existing building in Hove.

And an opposition councillor asked why the land south of Sainsbury’s had not been chosen for the new leisure centre site.

Carol Wilson asked if the council would allow a full independent structural inspection of the 1930s building and pause further demolition and enabling works until a survey was complete.

Labour councillor Alan Robins, the council’s cabinet member for sports, recreation and libraries, said a condition survey of the existing building had been completed.

And a wider assessment of the existing building’s suitability to meet current and future needs had been carried out.

He said this information had informed the business case and was presented to the council’s cabinet in July 2024.

Green councillor Pete West said the public seemed “underwhelmed” by the leisure facilities proposed in the redevelopment.

He asked if the council regretted its decision to ignore the analysis that suggested a “better option” would be to build the new pool and leisure centre on land south of Sainsbury’s in West Hove.

Cllr Robins said: “Is it the Green policy that we develop on green-field sites rather than brown-field sites and we do that against public opinion?

“Because that’s what we were up against here and the business case presented to cabinet, in July 2024, demonstrated that the sports and leisure centre on either site would represent good investment.”

The Labour leader of the council Bella Sankey criticised past minority administrations run by the Conservatives and Greens for delaying the £65 million scheme.

She said: “We know that under the years of no overall control under the Green and Tory-led minority administrations, this project for the King Alfred ran aground and got buried in the long grass.

“We won’t be distracted in our mission to deliver a new leisure centre in the west of the city.

“We certainly won’t be distracted by campaigns that twist the truth by political actors that don’t rely on having high-quality public leisure facilities available.”

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During discussions about spending £3.5 million from the existing £65 million budget earlier than planned and entering into an agreement with Alliance Leisure on enabling works, Cllr Sankey said the project “could not be more overdue”.

“I couldn’t feel more sentimental and more entwined with that facility because it’s given me and my family so much,” she said.

“But that is why I’m so passionate about redeveloping and ensuring that it stands the test of time as a new shining beacon of a modern leisure centre that is sustainable, that provides activities for every single generation.”

The Labour deputy leader of the council Jacob Taylor said the council was ambitious because it “refuses to accept the managed decline of local government”.

He said: “We want to reverse the stagnation that’s been seen in this city in too many areas and there’s no greater symbol of failure of progress, of managed decline and of stagnation than the current King Alfred site and its history.

“So today we’re being asked whether we can take another step forward in reversing that stagnation and finally making progress on the site.

“I’ll be enthusiastically voting for it today because I want to see us building a fantastic leisure centre that the city deserves.”

The cabinet agreed to bring forward the £3.5 million for enabling works to enable the demolition of the disused bowling alley area which has planning permission.

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