Leisure centre campaigners launch legal challenge

Campaigners have launched a legal challenge against plans for a new £65m swimming pool and leisure centre in Hove.

The King Alfred Community Leisure Hub group claims Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) failed to assess the existing building's suitability for reuse, as laid out in its own 2025 sustainability brief for the regeneration project.

The group says refurbishment of the present building, rather than its replacement, would offer "an extraordinary opportunity for a much more ambitious sporting destination" for the area.

A BHCC spokesperson said the authority "cannot comment at this stage due to the ongoing legal process".

Simon James, the opposition group's founder, said: "This was not a demand invented later by campaigners, it is a key point written into the council's own project brief.

"It said that 'existing foundations and structural elements must be assessed at the earliest stage to determine reuse potential', and 'these findings must be incorporated into structural design decisions'.

"So, where is that assessment, and where were its findings incorporated?"

James added that revamping the current building could incorporate "a 50-metre competition pool, diving facilities, a full-size ice rink and expanded indoor sports provision".

"But once existing structures are demolished, the opportunity to properly investigate their retention, adaptation and reuse is permanently lost," he said.

BHCC's planning committee backed the scheme at a special meeting in July, approving it by eight votes to one.

The proposed development is to replace part of the existing leisure centre and nearby public car park with a new leisure centre featuring swimming pools, a sports hall, a larger gym, soft play area and a larger cafe.

The children's pool will be smaller, but the main pool will increase from six to eight lanes.

The decision came after protestors gathered outside Hove Town Hall and more than 600 comments were submitted during the consultation process, including 534 objections.

They also raised concerns about wider plans for the King Alfred site, where council policy supports replacing the sports facilities alongside a minimum of 400 new homes.

Papers submitted to the meeting said: "Future residential development on the remainder of the site should be considered in the design of the leisure centre to ensure the development potential of that part of the site is not compromised."

The report said the council recognised that to secure the regeneration of the site and deliver new sports facilities, an appropriate mix of uses would be needed, "of which housing is likely to be the predominant part".

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