The opening of a new event space at Black Rock has been put back again because Southern Water has not completed essential work.
Last weekend’s Ibiza Proms were relocated to Hove Lawns, and now NoFit State Circus’s latest show, which was due to take place there in August, will also have to be found a new venue.
The water company blamed bad weather and the condition of the ground for the delay, but said it’s working to get work done as soon as possible.
Brighton and Hove City Council said: “We’re really pleased to be welcoming NoFit State Circus to the city this August with a show we’re sure residents and visitors will enjoy.
“We had hoped to host the circus at Black Rock, but we are still waiting on Southern Water to complete important work on the site.
“This delay – which is completely out of our control – has meant we are not able to guarantee the site will be ready to use in time for opening night and so the circus will now take place at elsewhere in the city at a venue we will confirm shortly.”
Southern Water said: “Southern Water have been working with Brighton and Hove City Council and their contractors on several workstreams to enable their Black Rock redevelopment project.
“The project is very complex and has been delayed for various reasons, including bad weather, ground and asset conditions resulting in need for design change and more work on site than anticipated.
“Everyone involved in the project is committed to finishing it safely as soon as possible.”
The new event space is part of a multimillion-pound project to revamp the area, intended as a stop-gap before larger-scale redevelopment can take place.
It was originally meant to include a pump track and classroom but rising costs saw the plans scaled back.
A new pump track is being built as part of the Kingsway to the Sea project in Hove.
The Temple and Reading Room buildings have been renovated and are being leased to new cafe operators. Philip Cundall, who runs the Portland cafe in Kemp Town, will take on the Temple, and a company owned by Moshimo co-founder Karl Jones is in talks to take on the Reading Room.
Both were meant to be open in the spring but no opening date has yet been publicised.
A new bridge from the A259 to Brighton Marina is being built to give enough height underneath to allow shuttle buses to access the marina from Madeira Drive.
Never more than 3 people working on it for the past few months , sometimes none at all
Are you including the other two with clipboards in that number?
Dont trust a word Southern say. I hope we charge them any costs for this delay
I suspect there’s not a method in which to do that in the contract.