Campaign group reacts after plans for King Alfred approved

A campaign group has shared its reaction after plans to demolish and rebuild a seafront leisure centre were approved.

At a special council meeting yesterday, July 29, plans to demolish the King Alfred Leisure Centre in Hove and replace it with a modern complex were approved.

Following five and half hours of discussion and debate, eight councillors voted in line with officer recommendations for the scheme and one voted against.

The secretary of state will have 21 days from confirmed receipt of the letter to make a decision whether to call the application in for decision.

Laura King – lead campaigner for Keep and Retrofit the King Alfred

The leader of campaign group Keep and Retrofit the King Alfred Leisure Centre Laura King said she was “shocked” by the handling of the decision and said the group will be seeking legal advise on the next stages.

“What was particularly shocking was the fact that they made the Conservation Advisory Group representative wait for five hours before they would hear the presentation from the council’s own independent heritage advisory group and the council’s solicitor made an attempt to tell him what he could and couldn’t talk about to the point that he almost walked out,” she said.

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Over recent months, the campaign group, alongside others including Friends of King Alfred, have been battling for the plans to be refused.

Ahead of the meeting, campaigners protested outside the town hall joining in chants such as “save our seafront” and listening to speeches.

Ms King said she felt the committee gave “no effort” to engage with the “serious issues and flaws of the scheme”, including concerns around emergency vehicle access and space constraints.

She also shared her frustration that the committee was unable to discuss the possibility of refurbishing the existing building.

Proposed visuals for the building looking south – subject to conditions (Image: BHCC)

In January, Historic England said the existing King Alfred Leisure Centre will not be added to the list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest.

Brighton and Hove City Council said following technical assessments, it was found that refurbishment of the building is “not viable”.

Ms King said: “Every time the subject of “retrofit” of the existing King Alfred was raised, a council officer quickly closed it down so there was no full and serious discussion on retrofit with full structural report and all the other information.

“There was no word on the carbon capture release harms of demolishing the existing building and no full lifecycle comparison either.”

A legal representative for Ms King spoke in front of the committee to share her objections to the plans.

Concerns were raised about the site’s masterplan, including the potential building of housing on the wider site.

The council has not applied to build any housing as part of the current application but planning official Maria Searle said that the City Plan strategic blueprint suggested up to 400 homes there.

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An illustration of the masterplan for the site was presented to councillors. Ms Searle said that the leisure centre and housing scheme were separate – and the leisure centre could work with a future high-density housing scheme.

Ms King concluded: “Yesterday’s meeting raised a lot more questions than it answered and many residents have contacted me to say they were left even more furious than before when they saw how unfairly the meeting operated.

“We would like to thank Conservative Councillor Carol Theobald for being the single councillor present who voted against this overpriced and undersized deal for Hove residents and visual blight on Hove seafront.”

Chris Roche, who also spoke at the meeting on behalf of Friends of King Alfred, shared a statement online stating that he had written to Secretary of State Angela Rayner calling for the decision to be overturned.

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