Two planning applications have been submitted to rebuild a set of public toilets and relandscape the Royal Pavilion Gardens.
The plans were submitted by Brighton and Hove Museums, the trading name of the Royal Pavilion and Museums Trust.
The trust has applied to remodel the existing toilet block into a Changing Places accessible toilet and separate gender-neutral cubicles facing the listed gardens.
The new building would include a kiosk, an accessible toilet in addition to the Changing Places toilet, a baby change cubicle and three individual toilets.
The trust has a 22-year lease on the existing toilet block from Brighton and Hove City Council.
The public toilets, in Prince’s Place, have been closed since October last year because of vandalism and anti-social behaviour.
The trust applied to the Heritage Lottery Fund in August for £4.4 million to revamp the Pavilion Gardens and public toilets.
The trust’s application included a design and access statement which said: “Re-orientating the block’s frontage towards the gardens will create a focal point from across the site and create safe visible access to the facility.
“The new architectural additions retain the majority of the existing fabric and provide clear points of connection for the public.”
An outdoor learning area is also planned next to the Brighton Dome building.
The trust said that landscaping would include restoring and reinstating historic walls, metal railings and gates in the grade II-listed garden.
A plan to remove modern trees and hedges is aimed at restoring the original views created by the Royal Pavilion’s architect, John Nash.
According to the trust’s planning statement, fencing would be strengthened and seating replaced along New Road to tackle anti-social behaviour and improve the area’s security and “attractiveness”.
The application said: “In order to reunify the Royal Pavilion estate, it will be essential to re-awaken the potential of the gardens as the means to mediate and connect the complex relationships between the historic buildings, so restoring the character of a ‘royal estate’.
“While the gardens were positively restored in the late 20th century, opportunity should be taken to enhance that scheme with, for example, protective fencing, better paths and lighting levels, improved irrigation and waste disposal and better facilities for the gardening staff.”
The application does state the gardens should not be “cluttered” with permanent statues, commemorative objects or public art unless there is a “convincing case based on historic associations of national interest”.
Currently, a statue of Max Miller is on the edge of the estate and, in August, councillors mooted the idea of two new statues in the gardens.
They would honour the suffragette Mary Clarke and the Indian soldiers who were nursed at the Royal Pavilion during the First World War.
Nash designed the Royal Pavilion for George, Prince of Wales, who became the Prince Regent and, later, King George IV.
Work started in 1787 and the layout designed by Nash was completed between 1815 and 1823.
In 2017, Historic England placed the garden on its “at risk” register.
Two identical applications on the council’s website are open to public comment with the references BH2023/02835 and BH2023/02836.
Application BH2023/02835 has a single comment about reusing the hooped fencing alongside the planted beds next to the cycle lane in Victoria Gardens.
Just refurbish the current Pavilion Gardens toilets.
Greener. Cheaper. Quicker.
Just arrest the street drinkers on jubilee street. Cheaper easier and would massively improve the area.
Three individual cubicles? Totally inadequate for such a busy park.
Male, and Female facilties both need more than that, otherwise enormous queues will be a constant problem.
There is nothing wrong with the existing toilets. All we want is for them to be maintained properly and for the people who abuse them to be kept away.
Yes there will be enormous queues, just as there are at the Dome. Millions were spent on its refurbishment, and it looks great, but why on earth did they not consider the situation where more toilets are needed? For many people the intervals are taken up with having to queue for them. And even inside them there is hardly enough space to get in and out. This was never a problem before the building was altered. Previously there were plenty of them in the basement, which was always easy to access. Now it is a disaster, as the new ones in the Pavilion Gardens are sure to be. Why are the planners of this site always so thoughtless?
4.4 million pounds…..for toilets???
£13.4m ….for Beryl Bikes!
The toilets are the obvious focus of this article, but I’d want to know more about the fence going up around the gardens.
Is the public toilet issue being used as a smokescreen, because they still want to close off the gardens in the evenings to save on security costs? That’s then a loss of access to what has always been a public city centre park – and a wind free place to sit in the evenings.
I guess it’s worth taking a long look at the plans, as submitted.
Some excellent questions there, Billy. Very discerning.
Gates. Yes. Not necessarily closed but they’re on the plans as closeable.
It’s absolute madness that a historical landmark isn’t already protected with gates at night. There really is no loss from closing the park off over night, unless you are a drug addict or criminal. Fingers cross they get the gates up soon.
Well Laura, thanks for your reply, but the Suella Braverman knee-jerk approach isn’t helpful here.
Maybe you should think a little or do some research before you type.
The Pavilion and its grounds are treasured spaces in Brighton and Hove city centre and there has only once been an attack on the Pavilion building itself, with an intruder in the 1970s I think, plus the area is nowadays covered by CCTV.
The Pavilion gardens are of course a public park, and are criss-crossed with walkways allowing anyone to amble through towards their destination without a major detour. The public lawn sections are used by people, by day and in the evenings, to sit and to meet up for a chat. And it’s a lovely space to mix with friends, without the need to spend money in a pub or restaurant. For sure, it’s mostly a younger crowd who will do that, but mostly sober.
If you actually go there in the evenings you’ll find it a safe space to enjoy, and with visiting tourists walking arm in arm to see the Pavilion so beautifully lit up at night. Photographers like me are also there to take snaps of what is our most famous landmark. Closing the park at night would stop all that from happening.
There is no evidence that the gardens are a trouble spot or dangerous, and police crime figures back me up on this. English Heritage only classified the gardens as being ‘at risk’ on the basis that the place is popular but there is no overview plan in place to deal with that. So, to quote their examples, we get two mismatched waste bins next to each other and poor signage, and toilets which don’t actually cater for the demands of this popular space. They never said anything about a security risk.
The idea that you close off the Pavilion gardens at night might seem to make sense to some, but that’s a bit like parents deciding to close off the home kitchen at 4pm because their kids keep eating food in there and because they sometimes find a mess in the morning because nobody did the washing up.
Similarly, the Palace Pier would need less cleaning staff if it remained closed all day, and we wouldn’t be able to walk on it.
It’s great they’ve got funding for new toilets, and a uniform perimeter fence might look quite smart. But many of us fear the true aim here is to cut back on running costs, while also setting up the possibility of closing off the gardens to run pay-per view concerts which only the wealthy can afford. Another step towards the privatisation of a public space?
And a closed off city centre park, for those of us who aren’t home by 4pm, means we lose our treasured outdoor evening space and, for those who work in the evenings, our shortcut home.
By all means, check out the detail of the plans and see what you think. But also visit the Pavilion Gardens in the evening before you act as judge and jury on what you have not yourself experienced.
The anti-social behaviour issues in recent years have actually been in New Road, and that will be outside the new Pavilion fence.
Just because you deem it ‘safe’ does not mean that is the universal experience. You end up dismissing numerous horrendous attacks and instances of fear, harassment and r*pe which does happen and is a real life experience for many people.
There is a wider problem in Brighton with homelessness and drugs but this IS a well documented hotspot (See a story on The Argus 30/08/22). Ask the people who leave work in the evenings or spend their mornings cleaning up tents, bottles and needles from the bushes instead of being able to focus on maintaining the assets of the park itself.
The Pavilion Gardens are a heritage asset – this is a heritage restoration project. The ‘uniform perimeter fence’ is an ornate railing based on details of an original boundary treatment which enclosed what was a private garden, so it is fitting within the context. Shutting it after say 9pm (as is typical with many gardens e.g. botanical gardens which shut overnight) will really have a negligible affect on users overall but will serve in protecting the gardens as a whole – not that closing it is even included in these proposals.
As with everything there has to be some give&take, understanding that problems are there (whether you experience them or not) and things do cost money. You cant have everything. It’s definitely worth looking at the full proposals before making judgement.
I’ve reviewed the plans for the gates on the planning website (you have to scroll through quite a long list of files to find them) and they look really smart – essentially they are reinstating what was originally there. They have committed to providing 24/7 access to the gardens, so I’m really not sure what the fuss is all about…I assume the gates will only be used for events, etc. PS. your example of the palace pier is a poor one, given it is closed at night!
I think also worth pointing out that the trust hasn’t secured the lottery funding yet, it’s still in the application process. They might not get it then there will be no toilets at all, unless the council cough up the funds to sort them out.
Have to agree with Dave…not really tackling the true problem! Walls, gates and play area sound more like: Tent Lean-to, Hanging Facility and Drop-in crack den with en-suite!
Maybe I’m still angry at the exterorniate cost to view the Pavilion.
‘Secured by Design’ is a Planning discipline the police have input to. Removing the excessive access privacy & pouring light on the reversed toilet block will deter ‘unnecessary’ use and opportunist muggings.
Whilst gender neutral cubicles are a good idea, there is something to be said about standing urinals and the capacity of these to quickly move people in and out without big queues and having to wait. However one defines themself there is a biological practicality that benefits all gender identities when considering this. Who wants to constantly be wiping wee from toilet seats when they need to sit, hover above it or spend time queuing when they need to go.
This played out when the Level was re-developed some years back, and now there are no toilets in this area.
Comment on the planning application, say whether you support it or not, and give your reasons
.
So no toilets in that area for the foreseeable future.
The council and trustees have between them been trying to fence and gate the grounds for some time. It certainly isn’t what Nash designed. Queen Victorua cited people staring in through the windows in the evening as one of the things she didnt like about Brighton because the public right of way passed the Pavilion, as it still does. And once gates and fences go up, they can start charging people for events should they wish. And they will, pricing out the ordinary people of Brighton. The gardens are covered by some of the best CCTV systems for miles around so the relatively few crimes there have a much higher detection rate. If crime is displaced, it will be to places without such high-spec cameras where it will not be easily solved. Keep the grounds open and persuade the police to do their job with proper preventative foot patrols. It’s really not rocket science. And leave the Max Miller statue where it is. He is closer to the spirit of Brighton than any of the trustees or councillors ever will be.
The model used for the toilets in BOAT (Brighton open Air Theatre in Dyke Park) are the best I have come across… ie a bank of lock up cubicles for either gender, and a wall creating a concealed area for wall mounted urinals for men to use. This works perfectly in my experience, and allows women to use all of the cubicles 99% of the time….
Some of the comments above, probably particularly some of Billy’s, are absolute nonsense, what’s closing the palace pier during the day got to do with closing the pavilion gardens at night. Presumably in the summer they will be open to say 9pm, so what is wrong with that? It will save giving the whole area a deep clean every morning and repair any damage, so they can be open the next day. Asking the police to do anything more is living in cloud cuckoo land. Ask Suella Braverman! I appreciate the lighting up and photographer angle of the historic buildings, so will look up the application.
Obviously my comment mentioning the Palace Pier was to point you to the idea that no commercial concern would consider closing the free aspects of their business simply because they don’t like doing the cleaning.
The Pavilion itself is already secure, so the ‘at risk’ tag is just scare mongering, and a misrepresentation of what English Heritage actually said.
The Pavilion Gardens are also a public asset, bequeathed to the people of Brighton, and to be enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. Closing them early because you don’t want to pay for night security – or because you don’t want to empty the bins after 3pm – is no solution.
If you fear the gardens aren’t safe in the evenings, I suggest you walk through there and see for yourself. At this time of year you’ll find a lot of young people who have just been ice skating.
The proposed fence is going up to save the trust money at our expense, and to enable the gardens to be used for pay per view concerts – with the true cost being a loss of access for those who can’t afford to pay, plus a closing off of the route home for many.
I also object to people who say, “why not close off the gardens after 9pm?”, as if that’s when everyone should be at home in bed. Have you forgotten that Brighton is famous for its night time economy, and that many of us don’t finish work until late in the evening?
There’s so much selfish thinking going on here.
It’s also pretty weird to hear that from now on the only city centre public toilets will be behind a fence, with gates that the trust will close when they want to.