The growing number of houseboats at Brighton Marina are changing its character and will have an adverse effect on tourism, residents warned councillors.
Two Marina residents asked Brighton and Hove City Council why the houseboats, known as water lodges, were permitted and whether they required planning permission.
Neil Maxwell said that the grey structures were altering the look and feel of the Marina at a meeting of the full council at Hove Town Hall on Thursday (30 March).
Mr Maxwell asked about the need for planning permission and urged the council to meet residents and the Marina’s operator Premier Marinas which has a long-term lease from the council.
He said that residents felt that it was over-intensive development, affecting some people’s mental health.
Outside the meeting, he said: “What you have is a situation where people like looking out at boats and the sea but now they are faced with what several people have said to me looks like a shanty town. Someone said it looks like chicken sheds in a field.”
He said that the lodges were a “huge concentration” of grey and the area would look better if the Marina management mixed the lodges in among the other boats.
Mr Maxwell added: “Brighton is spending a lot of money improving the waterfront, changing the entrance, which is great.
“Thousands of tourists come down here. They stop. They look at the fishing boats (and) the seagulls stealing from the fishing boats. They walk around the huge breakwater.
“Why is there no joined up thinking? This is a tourism gem. Hide the lodges among the boats but don’t make them so blatant.”
Fellow Marina resident Gail Levine asked the council if the water lodges should be classed as caravans as they were incapable of “self-propulsion”.
She asked whether planning permission was required for more than five caravans and whether the council had considered the effect on tourism.
Outside the meeting, she said: “Premier Marinas – the private company who operate the Marina – have plans to instal 100 water lodges and new infrastructure at the expense of yachts and boats.
“There has been no consultation or discussion with the local residents, the boat-supporting businesses or the yachting community, all of whom are their neighbours and who have a vested interest in the Marina.
“All we want is the ability to discuss these floating caravans and to have the opportunity to stop 100 of these from entering the Marina and changing its character from a boating and yachting venue with its unique tourist viability.
“We are at a loss to understand why the council is not supporting Brighton Marina as a leading tourist attraction.”
Green councillor Leo Littman, who chairs the council’s Planning Committee, said that the council had investigated concerns about water lodges on moorings at the Marina and had spoken to the management company.
Premier Marinas told the council that the lodges can have propulsion systems fitted and were considered “readily self-propelled”.
One view is that the Marina’s functions are boat storage and leisure – so owners should not live on their boats full time. If they did or if they used the lodges as a short-term holiday let, it would amount to a change of use.
Councillor Littman said: “It is acknowledged that, in design, they look different from seagoing vessels. Also, seagoing vessels may leave the harbour as they wish without being towed.
“However, in general terms, moorings are procured on a long-term basis and, although some vessels may leave and return, it is expected that moorings should be full on a regular basis and being used for leisure purposes.”
This seems like extreme NIMBYism at a time when people desperately need some kind of affordable housing in Brighton & Hove. If there are issues around these ‘water lodges’ the issues need to be addressed but when local people are massively being priced out by spiralling rents, entirely unaffordable house prices, and a severe lack of new housing being built (perhaps with very good reasons) we really need to have open minds to anything and everything that could potentially help the situation.
Aside from anything, what local would ever say the marina was a “tourist gem” for goodness sake. I would do everything I could to stop tourists knowing about the marina and I’m not sure there’s any they could do to change that. It just sounds like these people are trying to pretend it’s something it isn’t since they’ve bought there and want to talk up their investment but they’re not fooling anyone who’s been there that it’s not a concrete jungle with an ASDA.
But the sight of these water lodges are affecting resident’s mental health (allegedly).
Jane, firstly, I understand that the water lodges are not intended or allowed as full-time residences, so have no impact on the area’s housing problem. The marina residents object to the high concentration of the grey/black boxes being only at one end of the marina & the removal of the boats that end to accommodate them. If the water lodges were distributed evenly around the inner & outer harbours, this would ensure all residents & visitors can enjoy the view as the lodges would not be so visible as they would be surrounded by the more pleasing white boats.
It is so sad to see Brighton Marina filled with ugly square boxes.
People live in the full time or use them as vacation homes.
None of the “square boxes” are really boats. In 70+% of the weather conditions taking one of the boxes OUT of the marina would lead to RNLI involvement to rescue the poor buggers.
Brighton Marina is only doing it to rent out “cheap(ish) residential plots” as the berth prices are 20-40% too high – meaning lot of free berths.
Offering the berths out as “residential plots” means those renters are ready to pay “more” than yacht owners would.
The marina was not built for social housing and its inappropriate for it to be run as a commercial camp site. Other boat owners don’t like the rapid increase of “rabbit hutch” floating 2nd homes. Current rules explicitly forbid people from living on boats or hutches all year but this is ignored and not enforced by Premier. There is insufficient marina parking to take the associated massive increase in cars that go along with this trend to turn the marina into a permanent camp site.
Premier does not enforce parking rules, so local boat owners can’t park near the marina ramps to se and service their boats. It got totally out of hand. Premier are doing this because they chrge hutches 2 x 3 times normal boats, its for commercial profit, that isn’t even taxed because somehow they are a charity.
The marina was supposed to support a community of commercial, social boat and yacht owners. It is not supposed to be a campsite or shanty town.
There are elderly living on some old, damp boats, with only wood stove heating which is a health and fire risk.
Brighton marina has be one one of the worst run marinas in Britain.
Hmmmm I smell b,s Brighton marina was ruined way be for this I think if people are living on them not renting for a,b,n,b let council decide rather than whine
Hi Nige, thank you for your comment. I must state that there is no ‘allegedly’ about this issue affecting residents’ mental health. I know one person affected & the distress is real.
Look pretty good to me compared with the other crap housing being built everywhere. mental health – please!
NIMBY for sure!! If there’s an eye sore in the Marina, let’s start with a boat shall we – the junk sitting opposite the fuel dock / don’t hear that being an issue. There are others, but that’s not my point.
To characterise houseboats as social housing and floating caravans is both misinformed and a view into the elitist minds of those that do.
I agree, the clumping together of houseboats isn’t the best use of space, and Premier should rectify it. Good luck with that.
If the sight of houseboats is so mentally distressing and debilitating then I would posit that someone needs not to live in a Marina that allows houseboats.
As far as the Marina being a tourist attraction goes, I’d suggest that it is, but on a small scale. It’s nice to visit and see just exactly what it is – a marina and restaurants. What else should there be in a marina – Ferris wheels and carousels? People don’t buy or rent in a marina to live in something akin to the promenade in downtown Brighton.