Brighton and Hove could have one of the “most spectacular” seafronts in the country in 10 years’ time, a leading councillor said.
The Labour deputy leader Jacob Taylor made the comment in a debate on Brighton and Hove City Council’s plans to create a prospectus through its Seafront Development Board.
The board consists of three councillors – Julie Cattell, Birgit Miller and Councillor Taylor – and nine others including people with experience in the leisure industry, retail and development.
The prospectus would set out an ambition for the seafront and list sites for development to attract investment, not just from private companies but also from arts organisations and the government.
After a public consultation event with 100 residents at the Brighton Centre, the council published a survey asking people how they use the seafront at the moment.
The survey asks what needs improving and what ambitious things residents want to see.
At the council’s Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday (24 March), Councillor Taylor said: “I think we have one of the better seafronts in the country.
“There are various pieces in the jigsaw of our seafront that could mean in 10 years we genuinely have the most spectacular seafront in England with some of the things other places don’t have – a set of assets and attractions that make it genuinely unique and exciting.”
He said that the long-derelict Black Rock site was ready to redevelop. Before then, the empty site was due to host No Fit State Circus during the Brighton Festival and the World Cup fan zone in the summer.
Community works representative Mark Strong raised concerns about Brighton Marina, saying that national and international chains had closed branches there.
Since Las Iguanas closed in July 2020, other brands to shut more recently have included the Rendezvous Casino, Pizza Hut and, last month, Five Guys.
Mr Strong said: “The Marina is quite desolate and the only shop that is there is another multinational, which is Asda.
“Obviously, from a Chamber of Commerce point of view, we want to be looking at local businesses, trying to keep the money in a circular economy, rather than just going out to multinationals.”
The council’s director of place Max Woodford said that, although the council owned the freehold, there were leaseholders who were represented on the Seafront Development Board.
He said: “They’re really interested in the work that the seafront board is doing, what will happen at Black Rock and what will happen with Madeira Terraces – that whole process of drawing people along that seafront and better tying the Marina into the seafront.
“At the moment, it feels like you get to the end of the seafront and the Marina’s almost like an edifice that people won’t go to on foot, they go to by car, which obviously we don’t want to encourage.”
Labour councillor Birgit Miller, the council’s cabinet member for culture, heritage and tourism, said that the Marina was working in partnership with the council and holding off plans until there was a “direction of travel” for Black Rock.
Councillor Miller said: “Their main concern would have been not to duplicate what we’re doing and instead they want to complement work with us.”
“It is on their radar and ours that this should not be a dying area of the city or a boundary. They’ve got some really interesting plans and they need to know how those fit in with Black Rock. It could be a really exciting part of the city ultimately.”
Conservative councillor Anne Meadows asked whether the redevelopments and improvements would be free for residents to enjoy rather than attractions with, for example, entry charges.
Councillor Meadows said: “Attractions will be there for those wealthier residents but not for all local residents and that concerns me so is it just capitalising?”
Councillor Taylor said that the seafront was a “largely free attraction” in itself and will remain so although there were and would continue to be paid-for attractions.
Brighton and Hove Independent councillor Mark Earthey, who represents Rottingdean and West Saltdean, said that the undercliff contributed “an enormous amount” to active travel.
But there was a continuing battle with shingle from storms covering the path – and volunteers armed with shovels and wheelbarrows clearing up.
Councillor Earthey asked whether the council would consider investing in equipment to keep the undercliff clear as part of the process of improving the seafront.
Councillor Taylor said that the area east of the Marina was unlikely to have any larger schemes although smaller sports facilities and cafés could be “unlocked”.
The consultation – Tell Us What You Think of the Seafront – is open until Thursday 30 April on the council website.
There is clearly an ongoing historical issue in the upper black rock bushes area where many men perform sexual services to each other. This is not a safe area for general public to attend with very little community of police presence [especially at night]. This behaviour needs to be cleaned up as part of the councils plans. I challenge any council member to frequent this area alone [a very intimidating experience indeed].
On my way!
Jacob, Jake luv, all the money in the world could never transform that seafront into being spectacular. Not no how. In the words of Miss Bette Davis: “what a dump”
It’s de ja vu imo. Just a merry-go-round of different sets of Labour councillors spinning the same lines over the last 30 years, with Lord ‘whoops-I-accidentally-over-claimed-travel-expenses’ Bassam still at the helm.
Unless Labour councillors make sure there is suitable capital funding from the government to do the work and regeneration needed (which they won’t all the while Bella Sankey is cracking the whip and keeping councillors inline with new Tory-mimicking-Labour), there will be limited or very little ACTUAL change. Just token patch up jobs here and there.
Many residents in the city can’t afford to go to the seafront yet Councillor Taylor continues to throw money after money at further vanity projects and middle class attractions in Hove rather than investing in the more deprived areas of the city and the services there. The answer to these is the knock down flats and build penthouses!! I reckon he will next be buying a sandy beach or wanting to build a new pier or some sort of palm islands like in Dubai.
The beach is free to visit….
Councillor Taylor will find a way of charging for that soon. Cost you a fortune to drive on the road to get to the beach. Cost you a fortune to park near the beach. Cost you a fortune to get the bus to the beach. Probably get caught by an expensive bus lane camera on the way or break a tyre on a massive pothole. No shops or attractions near the beach as the rent is so expensive. Litterbins overflowing as they only get collected every 8th Tuesday due to cuts. ALL MONEY going to the Council. And soon to fund more padel clubs and beach bars in Hove or Councillors trips to see the beach attractions in the Bahamas!!!
Unfortunately, your performative outrage is not backed by reality.
Brighton needs an art gallery and exhibition space that has some free entry areas and some paid exhibitions. Something like a turner in Margate. We need more cultural attractions that support the arts
Thats the plan
But it won’t be. Hove residents are going to lose their sea views to ugly high rise blocks creating dangerous wind tunnels on a public beach for no public benefit and in breach of the city’s own plans and guidelines. For many local residents, the seafront is the only public park/garden area they have and the seafront is also supposed to be leisure-led, not development-led. Most won’t even be able to afford to use the new high-priced leisure hub, with limited capacity – even more so at peak times – with almost nothing there for families and children. A family of 4 could easily pay over £30 just to swim for an hour, never mind if they want a snack in the cafe – overlooked on two sides so the windows will have to be blocked – afterwards. Visitors will just stop coming to Hove with its lack of parking and affordable activities/attractions. Meantime 5 years of building work hell which most local residents haven’t even been consulted about.
Capacity doesn’t change depending on what time of the day it is; that’s nonsense.
Benjamin, that’s a bit of a “technically correct but completely misses the point” take.
No, the walls don’t physically expand and contract throughout the day — well spotted. But in the real world, peak times mean more people, tighter booking slots, longer queues, and a much worse experience overall.
So yes, capacity might stay the same on paper, but *access to it* absolutely changes depending on demand. That’s what Tracy was getting at.
“You” missed the rhetorical intent there. 🙃
It certainly used to be….
Would be a great space for affordable housing, affordable food and affordable games for kids. Most people in areas like. Whitehawk, Portslade and mile oak cant afford a trip to this area as too expensive because of cost of living crisis by tories black holes. Perhaps if we charged tourists to use the toilets we could use this money to make affordable for locals on low incomes from poorer areas. We don’t need more fancy courts and saunas for rich people. Focus on poor! The locals need nice things too that’s why we are standing up to the system!
I think the biggest lever will be if a Labour mayor gets in; the implementation of a tourist tax, just like major tourist destinations have across the world. £1-2 on top of an overnight stay, based on the current figures, generates millions which could be used to do loads of good, fix potholes and get in front of repairs, build affordable housing, and create nice things for the locals.
Benjamin, I get the logic behind a tourist tax—it’s worked in plenty of cities—but I think you’re oversimplifying how much impact it would actually have here.
£1–2 per night sounds small, but Brighton isn’t quite the same as places where tourism is year-round and high-margin. A lot of the local economy depends on short stays, day-trippers, and people already feeling squeezed by costs. There’s a risk it either gets absorbed without much real benefit, or worse, passed onto visitors in a way that makes the city slightly less competitive.
More importantly, the real issue people are raising isn’t just funding—it’s trust. Even if a tourist tax brought in millions, how confident are residents that it would actually go into potholes, affordable housing, or public services rather than getting diluted across budgets or spent on projects they don’t prioritise?
If the council wants support for something like that, they’d need to ringfence it very clearly and show tangible, visible improvements. Otherwise it just feels like another revenue stream without accountability.
The premise that Brighton isn’t a high-margin, year-round destination doesn’t hold up #24. If GPT looked at the context, we attract over 8 million visitors annually, with tourism contributing an estimated £1.2 billion to the local economy. A large portion are overnight stays.
That’s conservatively £12-15 million a year. That’s not a marginal sum; it’s transformative.
No-one has mentioned anything about spending strategy of a tourist tax here, that appears to be a hallucination #25.