Green light for £65m leisure centre development

Plans for a new £65m King Alfred swimming pool and leisure centre in Hove have been approved by councillors.

Brighton & Hove City Council's planning committee backed the scheme at a special meeting on Wednesday, approving the proposal by eight votes to one.

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

Campaigners opposed the plans, arguing the existing building should be refurbished rather than replaced.

The proposed development would replace part of the existing King Alfred 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 café.

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

Outside the meeting, campaigners argued the current building should be refurbished rather than demolished.

Objectors 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.

Jan Ayre, who has lived in Hove for 40 years, said: "They've got a perfectly good facility there which could be improved and made bigger, and they choose to make it smaller."

She added: "We're built up enough. The facilities have been taken away from the locals for people from outside Brighton to come and buy flats."

Nigel Furness said: "All we have to do is refurbish."

Gary Shannon said refurbishing the building would be a "better and cheaper option".

Papers submitted to the meeting, external 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".

Supporters of the scheme said the current building was ageing and no longer met requirements, while the new facility would provide improved sports and leisure provision.

Council reports also said supporters had welcomed future housing provision "given the need".

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