Construction work to restore Madeira Terraces won’t start until at least 2021

Last month, councillors from all three parties agreed plans to release an extra £13.4million to restore the Victorian terraces, which have been partially closed since 2013 because of structural problems.

However, the money will not all be immediately available, and the first expenditure will be on the creation of masterplans and case studies, followed by securing extra borrowing.

And the final £6.7million will be dependent on the council making commercial investments and then securing enough income from it which they can use to borrow more money – which won’t happen until at least 2022.

Work has already begun to plan a phased repair of some arches, and construction work on that is currently scheduled to begin around summer next year.

Councillor Nancy Platts, Leader of the council said: “Our community here in Brighton & Hove has been amazing.

“I want to give special thanks to the Advisory Panel set up to aid the project, as well as the Save Madeira Terraces Raffle Group for all their hard work, and to everyone who donated to the crowdfunding project.

“I consider this a watershed moment, all three parties have come together to find funding and resources for a masterplan, and this is a really positive step to help fund a reawakening for the Madeira Terrace arches.

“From Shelter Hall to Black Rock, this council is investing in and rejuvenating our heritage sites.”

Jax Atkins, of the Madeira Terrace Advisory Panel said: “I am gloriously happy to see the idea to raise additional money for Madeira Terraces has been approved by all parties & that they will now work together to ensure that this is realised.”

The amendment passed by councillors last month gives extra funding of £200,000 a year to the project.

In the first year, financial year 2020/2021, this £200,000 will be split into two pots for early planning work.

£100,000 will be used to fund the development of a masterplan and enabling work for the Madeira Terrace, Black Rock and Gasworks sites, creating a joined-up plan for the seafront.

£100,000 will be used to fund design, feasibility and business case studies for exploring the commercial uses of the terrace, including estimating the likely income streams that could support management and maintenance and further restoration of the full structure in the future.

In the year 2021/2022, the £200,000 dedicated to the Madeira Terraces project will go towards borrowing a further £4.3m for the project.

This sum of £4.3m is on top of to the £2.440m already allocated to the project, which includes the £440,000 raised by the community, meaning that £6.740m is dedicated to the project in total.

The final part of the funding, possibly up to an extra £6.7m capital funding for Madeira Terrace, is dependent on making commercial investments in the city.

As this funding is reliant on commercial property being available and then income from that commercial property, this is a longer-term possibility rather than a guarantee of funding now.

To raise the extra £6.7m, the council intends investing £40m in commercial properties in the city to add to its portfolio.

This larger portfolio will generate an estimated extra net income stream of £315,000, as long as there are suitable, available opportunities to invest in properties.

This extra income from a larger commercial portfolio will then be used to secure borrowing to invest more money into Madeira Terrace which could be up to an extra £6.7m.

If this is possible the funding would not be available until, at earliest, financial year 2021/2022.

The Madeira Terraces are a Grade 2 listed, 865-metre-long stretch of seafront arches on Madeira Drive. Originally built in the late 1800s, it has been closed to the public since 2012 as the structure has been degraded by the marine environment and become unsafe.

The Madeira Terrace restoration project aims to restore the arches and create a new sustainable leisure, social and business space sensitive to the terraces original design.