Plans to replace three seafront kiosks with saunas have been recommended for approval by councillors next week.
The plans have been submitted by Rockwater, in Kingsway, Hove. The venue added six kiosks selling food and drink outside the premises – each in the style of a beach hut – during the coronavirus pandemic.
The company, owned by Luke Davis, 47, and Luke Jacobs, 38, now wants to replace the three kiosks on the western side of the building with three similar structures housing the saunas.
The application is due to be decided by Brighton and Hove City Council’s Planning Committee on Wednesday 4 March.
The initial plans were for timber-fired saunas but a report to the Planning Committee said that each sauna would now contain an electric sauna heater.
Each sauna would have the capacity to seat six people. The proposal includes an access ramp to the western-most hut.
Rockwater’s agent Design Technical prepared a “design and access statement” as part of the planning application.
It said: “The design maintains the existing scale and footprint, avoiding harm to views across the promenade and Western Lawns.
“The articulation of the façade into three ‘linked’ hut forms ensures the proposal continues to reflect the established beach hut character of the seafront.”
The three existing huts are described as “outdated” in the application which said that the business was shifting from food to “leisure and wellness”.
Nine people have objected to the application, with concerns including pollution from the previously proposed timber-fired saunas, the adverse effect on other sauna businesses in the area and overdevelopment of the site.
None of the objectors’ identities are available because, unlike most other local authorities, Brighton and Hove City Council redacts commenters’ names.
One of the anonymous objectors said: “This directly impacts smaller, independent local businesses, including existing community-driven sauna operators near by who contribute to the area’s unique character and year-round vitality without the scale or privilege of corporate backing.
“The seafront should remain a diverse and inclusive space, not one dominated by a single hospitality brand.”
Another anonymous objector said: “The promenade is in very poor condition of repair in places and, as a member of the West Hove Seafront Action Group, I have been looking at options to improve the prom in collaboration with the council and other stakeholders.
“No communications have taken place with us over these latest plans as far as I am aware.”
The Planning Committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 2pm on Wednesday 4 March. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast.
When are Rockwater going to propose a private beach or perhaps a private lawn on the prom?
I suspect that they will then object to any sauna provision that may be included in any gymn plans for the King Alfred redevelopment.