Clearance work at the long-derelict Black Rock site is close to completion as the deadline nears for volunteers to apply for the chance to help shape the outlook on the seafront.
Pretty much everything has been levelled at Black Rock – except for the new sea wall – as Brighton and Hove City Council prepares for the next stage of a long-awaited regeneration.
The physical changes have coincided with an invitation for people to apply to join the new Seafront Development Board, chaired by the former council leader Steve Bassam.
After more than a decade as Labour leader of the council, he was elevated to the House of Lords as Lord Bassam of Brighton and spent the next 11 years as a government minister.
When he ran the council, he came up with a strategy for the seafront, reviving the area west of the Palace Pier which had become rundown and crime-ridden.
As a long-serving member of the Lords, he chaired a select committee on the regeneration of seaside towns, producing a well-received report that could well help inform the future of Black Rock.
He described the site, covering almost three and a half acres (1.38 hectares), as “a blank canvas” and wants the new Seafront Development Board to set out some of the possibilities promptly.
The deadline to apply to join the board is today (Monday 31 March) – and when it starts meeting, it is expected to outline a vision for the site including a “developer brief”.
Labour councillor Jacob Taylor, the deputy leader of the council, said: “There are lots of options and we should be really ambitious. We’ve already had lots of approaches.”
Lord Bassam said: “We want something that fits the Brighton vibe – arts or sports-related. We want to try to raise ambitions. The seafront is our string of pearls and our shopfront.”
As the pair sized up the newly cleared site, they spoke about the possibilities for this blank canvas, with a background that includes miles of Brighton seafront and, of course, the sea.
Manchester has the Lowry. Margate has the Turner. Perhaps Brighton could have the Beardsley – the illustrator and author Aubrey Beardsley went to the school that is now known as BHASVIC.
Or, if there were to be a gallery, perhaps it might be more like the Museum of Modern Art, in New York.
Lord Bassam said: “The strip between the pier and the Marina has got so much potential.”
He praised the venues that have sprung up and drawn visitors to the less busy eastern seafront in Kemp Town while providing a mix of activities such as beach volleyball. The Temple and the Reading Room café have breathed new life into long-neglected spaces.
The stretch includes the Madeira Terraces where work is finally under way on a restoration that is not short of challenges – funding, of course, among them.
The nature of the Black Rock site and its setting would mean working with Historic England, Lord Bassam said, but a convincing vision could also prove helpful in attracting funding.
The site sits next to Brighton Marina and some of the recent work at Black Rock has made it easier for people on foot or bike to get from one to the other.
Lord Bassam said: “There are some conversations to have with the Marina. It has a lot of car park capacity that isn’t used.”
The practical challenges for Black Rock include access. If an attraction is likely to draw crowds, transport and parking will have to be considered.
The site could well include a hotel although nothing is set in stone. Talking of stones, perhaps the nearest thing to a fixed idea is to be found among the pebbles on the beach.
Any proposal would be expected “to protect and enhance the vegetated shingle area which is a rare and important habitat for local and migrating species”.
Black Rock beach has been designated a Site of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCI) and any scheme should “provide opportunities for appreciating the special quality” of the shore there.
The sea is another inspiration, with some suggesting an artificial surfing reef or something more akin to the Wave inland attraction in Bristol. Sea Lanes, on the Kemp Town beach, has shown what is possible, defying sceptics in the process.
Councillor Taylor, who is responsible for regeneration, and Lord Bassam spoke about the different timeframes – short, medium and long term.
A series of concerts planned for the summer are about making use of the site in the short term while plans for the long term are being prepared.
Those events are partly about drawing people back to the area while the nature of a future attraction under discussion as well as the fabric of the area, the “street feel” and even the mix along Madeira Drive.
Discussions will also have to be had about future funding – not just to build something but to give it the best chance of being financially sustainable. The i360 is fresh in many people’s minds.
Other possibilities beyond designs, finance and marketing are also up for debate. For instance, Brighton already has a business improvement district (BID). Could its reach be extended to include seafront firms? Could Brighton set up a second BID?
Businesses have to give their backing – and agree to fund its activities. In the main shopping areas, some of their money has been spent on, for example, the Christmas lights.
The bigger picture includes serious money – at least in the tens of millions. The costs will be much more than the council would be able to find.
Councillor Taylor said that it would have to be a partnership of the public and private sector, given the likely costs, adding: “The council aren’t going to rustle up £30 million by themselves to do this.”
The £30 million is of course a notional figure. And while some people hold strong views about public and private ownership – and the associated risks – the council faces some hard choices.
Call it being pragmatic or maybe just realistic, but Councillor Taylor said that any deal would probably mean granting a long lease – as happened with the Brighton Marina. The council would retain ownership of the freehold.
The end result would need wide-ranging and enduring appeal. He said: “We’re aiming for a seafront that offers something for everyone in the city as well as to tourists.”
Lord Bassam said: “We want local people to feel involved in it and visitors to admire it.”
The next task is to finalise the membership of the Seafront Development Board, get it up and running and produce a prospectus and draw up a developer brief – hopefully this calendar year.
It’s taken a long time to get this far. Plenty of people are impatient for progress. The pair know that we won’t see results overnight so whatever ends up there needs to be worth the wait.
So how much has this leavening and tarmacing this area cost? After seeing 4 years of workers walking around playing on their phones-I’d say millions.
Strange they didn’t dream of this “what do we do next” 4 years ago but that’s our incompetent council.
I remember asking, when the scheme was announced, what the area was going to look like and all that was provided was a bland, featureless, artist’s impression. The focus just seemed to be improving pedestrian and cycle access to the marina.
They made cycle access worse.
The two way cycle lane was removed, and nothing put in it’s place except a “shared use” super wide path in which cyclists now have a slalom course of two sets of closely spaced security bollards, a set of perpetually locked gates which don’t have spacing wide enough to get through with a cargo trailer or pannier racks/bags, speed bumps to throw cyclists into the bollards at the bottom when they’re trying to ascend a hill with shopping and a top-heavy bike, and of course pedestrians not looking behind them and worse, uncontrolled kids playing on it.
You can tell this has all been a boomer project, they want cycle lanes to go as much as we want them to go.
The site has been got ready for development as a family friendly leisure and sports facility
Since when does the marina car park have spare parking space. It’s always full at weekends and holidays.
Safe to say it looks nothing like the illustrations the featured on the now removed information boards. The reality is that it has ended up not being not much different from where it started from, with the exception of the road into the marina which is bollarded off. A road to nowhere. There also seems to be tonnes and tonnes of spoil piled up and levelled off at the same height of the sea wall. Is that to remain ?
How is it a road to nowhere? It is used by pedestrians as a far better access route than the old one. Pedestrians pay Council Tax as well.
Wrong, we had a two way cycle lane before, now we don’t have any cycle lanes and the addition of two sets of closely spaced bollards and a set of locked gates to try and get around with kids running about everywhere and heavy shopping weighing us down.
It’s a wonder there hasn’t been a serious injury yet, but I know for a fact that there have been injuries.
Those bollards look like they can be moved though, and the signage installed suggests it will be used by vehicles eventually.
Worth mentioning that the ‘series of concerts’ in the summer, leave oil on the beach that the promotors never clean up and ignore national regulations for noise….and the beach is rented out for 2-3 times less than other cities rent their public spaces for (‘mates rates’). I wonder if the new ‘board’ will take the seafront seriously or keep destroying it to support corporate welfare.
One thing is for certain, you’ll be whining throughout along with that hideously obnoxious woman who claims to represent Kemptown, not providing any real solutions, but looking to complain enough to get another free holiday so the rest of us can enjoy ourselves.
What about the ice rink that was talked about.
Why don’t you continue the road so you can drive to the Marina
A through road is not wanted along Madeira Drive
I’d love a through road through the Marina and so would my partner, so you’re outnumbered 2 to 1, lol.
How about a weekly or monthly farmers market? The site is big enough to have lots of stalls and bring many to the area.
Oh, and on that note, the Christmas markets too! 🌲
For those of us outside Brighton concerned about the restructure of the council areas in Sussex, no we don’t wish our rates being used for developing Brighton seafront
Typical boomer response.
So what the hell have BHHC spent all this money on??? A refurbished Reader’s room, some boardwalks, a bit of landscaping and some road tinkering with even more visitor parking spaces removed? They haven’t even included restoring Madeira Terraces in this cost. This is an absolute scandal which needs a judicial review.
The total cost of the Black Rock rejuvenation project in Brighton is £129.91 million, with £117.8 million coming from match funding and £12.11 million from Coast to Capital LGF Allocation.
Here’s a breakdown:
Total Project Cost: £129.91 million
Match Funding Contribution: £117.8 million
Coast to Capital LGF Allocation: £12.11 million
Delivery Body: Brighton & Hove City Council
Project Status: Delivering
Theme: Regeneration
They probably siphoned it off for unwanted and unused ‘cycling infrastructure ‘
We need to know what they’ve spent all the money on in return for next to nothing.
Can you quote your source?
Depends on the match funding ratio though. 10% would mean this is almost entirely funded through C2C, for example.
How much? £129.91 million – surely some mistake! £117.8 million match-funding – from where?
By comparison; The Kingsway to the Sea project in Hove, originally budgeted at around £13 million, faced cost overruns and was scaled back, with a funding gap of £3.7 million, but has since received additional funding (no source disclosed) and work has resumed. But all it seems to have done so far is privatise Hove seafront into expensive activity zones with a hideous factory building to spoil the view. The new yellowave will add additional unsightly prison-like fences around these zones and take out a useful public toilet block, trying to force everyone into the hideous factory building to spend their money.
I don’t agree with your aesthetic assessment. It looks to be a good design and very Californian.
I am presuming you must have visited an industrial estate on your trips to California. Or you are the excuse for an architect behind it. agree with MikeyMike. I’ve seldom seen such poor design on a prime location beachfront before. Could just as easily be found on an anywheresville industrial estate. What a wasted opportunity.
Also, you are deliberately missing out the fact a whole new purpose built toilet block is being built to replace the old dilapidated one.
additional funding came from s106 contributions
The last chance to volunteer is today the 31st https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/jobs/open-vacancies-and-how-apply-brighton-hove-city-council/volunteering-opportunities/volunteer-join-seafront-development-board-and-help-shape-vision-our-seafront
Did you apply Derek? I know you were keen to get involved yourself.
They won’t have him. That’s why he complained. He’s not part of the inner sanctum, apparently.
Yes just out of devilment 🙂
Well, if it’s anything, Derek, you’ve always been a calm, progressive voice from what I’ve seen. I think you’d be good at it.
I think this would be a great site for BHAFC to build a new 50,000-seat stadium similar to what Everton have done by reclaiming land from the sea. This would be a win-win for the city and the club as it would rejuvenate everything. Imagine the marina redevelopment finished with a new stadium, Madeira terraces lined with bars and restaurants. The Amex is a brilliant stadium, but with the club aiming for such high standards, this would put us up there with the best infrastructure-wise as well as on the pitch. A city centre stadium with a monorail linking everything up to the seafront. Brighton would be buzzing, bringing a lot of money to everyone.
I remember the enjoyment of the Black Rock lido facility with the access to the beach at high and low tides under the capable management of Jock Thompson who promoted Competitive Swimming and Water Polo. The council were reluctant to provide the funding necessary to maintain the heated seawater system. I also remember that the developers of the Marina were supposed to provide a similar facility. This was never effected. The Brighton Town Council failed to follow up on this yet they supported the principle of the nude beach and peeping people.
Perhaps Lord Bassam of Brighton could explain the ancient travesties.
The overlooking properties, from the Banjo Groyne to the Black Rock lido. perhaps even from the Aquarium, surely must have the potential of being the most attractive and valuable property on the South Coast but the council’s unwillingness to deal with developers has been a problem since the early 1960’s.
It’s time for our city to see its true potential. It’s all well and good preserving history, but we need to move forward, improve, and become better at the same time. How good could our seafront become? The marina, if we can relocate ASDA and put the multistory car park underground, look at how many opportunities we have, think gunwarf keys in Portsmouth. Finish phase 2/3 of the outer harbor development. This would be the place to be, along with the Gas Works and whatever happens at Black Rock. Madeira Terraces complete with bars, restaurants, the Brighton Centre redevelopment, expanding Churchill Square, king alfred, skyscrapers of architectural beauty at these key sites will improve the skyline.
I think some padel courts should be built there. The ones that were built recently in hove are always busy so there’s obviously the demand for them. Let’s add something that will benefit locals.. no need for any hotels, restaurants or bars in that area at all.. ive lived in brighton my whole life and it just seems year by year it gets worse due to stupid ideas that are a waste of money and non beneficial to the local people.