Work to extend Hove beach out to sea is to begin in autumn.
Brighton and Hove City Council last week agreed to increase the budget for the latest phase of sea defences from £6.5 million to £11 million.
Work has already been done to build a protective layer of rock next to Basin Road South and a new sea wall near the Hove Deep Sea Anglers Club.
The next stage involves building new timber groynes, extending the beach between the King Alfred Leisure and Second Avenue and rebuilding sea defences on Southwick beach.
Councillor Trevor Muten, Cabinet member for Transport and Public Realm, said: “This scheme is vital for the city, to safeguard homes and businesses from coastal flooding and protect our local economy for decades to come.
“By taking action now, we will help make our city more climate resilient and able to adapt to increasing storms, extreme rainfall and rising sea levels.
“We are committed to value for money to deliver the best for our city. £4.5 million is a substantial sum, but our local visitor economy alone is worth £5 billion.
“This increase is due to inflationary costs affecting infrastructure projects nationwide, together with the need for additional shingle replenishment to stabilise the beach bays.
“We are a seafront destination, with important business hubs and transport links based around Shoreham Port and the A259 coast road.
“It is also densely populated, so this is an investment to protect our city, our residents and local businesses from flooding for the long term.”
The work is due to take place from late September 2025 to May 2026, timed to take place to avoid the summer season.
During the work, the council will enable seafront businesses to remain open.
The work is intended to create more space for people to enjoy, protect the city from sea level rise and storms and lead to fewer pebbles being thrown up onto the promenade during heavy storms.
At Southwick beach the work will start during 2026 with completion by April 2027.
Who has requested this and where is the money coming from if the council is so short of money it is threatening to close our public libraries?
Groynes are just as effective in stopping beach erosion and far cheaper so why extend the beach at a cost of £11m when the same anti-erosion measures could be achieved for £5k-£10k per groyne?
Or is the aim to create more beach to privatise for second homes etc?
Have you tried reading the whole article? It summarises at the bottom the exact aim of the project
Or you could take an actual interest and read the report that went to the last Cabinet meeting and the various previous reports over the years.
All available on the councils website.
Unless you dam of!!the beaches nothing will stop the sea,I worked for the sea defence Brighton back in the sixties and the sea ripped out two ton plus coping stones along the under cliff walk and smashed the groins ,,no bother??? Boulders can disrupt waves but it will not stop them.I AM rather concerned at the council’s insistence of flooding,,,when did Brighton,,or hove or SOUTHWICK get flooded??? Never?? Is the answer so i dont agree with the council one bit,its another way of putting money in mates accounts it’s a fix and should be investigated
Oh the old corruption allegation. Go to the police if you have any actual evidence otherwise layoff the unsubstantiated allegations.
Waiting to put flood defences in until after somewhere has been flooded is a very clever plan.
Replying to Sean.
The sea is indeed powerful, when it comes to storms and the generated big waves.
But the plan here is to build new and longer groynes, which stop the longshore drift of shingle.
That longshore drift is part of the daily tidal current cycle and is also caused by breaking waves.
If you make the beaches wider – as here, with longer groynes – then that creates a more gently-shelving beach, which in turn allows the shorebreak waves to dissipate with less shingle movement.
So that’s the plan, and let’s hope it works.
The possible controversial bit, not mentioned here, is what the new groynes are made from.
Sean, just because a thing hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it won’t happen – a concept that you’re probably familiar with because you may have purchased house insurance.
It’s a shame that we will lose the wonderful low tides ( as they are currently) , where the sand is exposed and families stroll along the edge of the sea.
It is one of the most beautiful aspects of Hove Beach.
King Canute is alive and kicking (and maybe working for the Council?) Wonder if these new groynes will trap all the sewerage that Southern Water pumps into the sea?
Terrible piece of photo-editing !