A senior Brighton and Hove City Council official made an impassioned plea to members of the council’s Planning Committee to approve the £65 million new King Alfred swimming pool and leisure centre in a meeting at Hove Town Hall this afternoon (Wednesday 29 July).
Head of place making Sam Smith said: “The King Alfred scheme comes before you today with the weight of history behind it.
“Over many years, this city has seen proposal after proposal for this site. Grand visions have been developed, debated and ultimately abandoned.
“While I was not involved in most of those projects, I have been part of this council long enough to have seen the hopes raised, expectations created and then the frustration when those plans failed to materialise.
“That history is precisely why this project has been designed differently. This is not a scheme built on wishful thinking.
“It is not a scheme that relies on unrealistic assumptions or extraordinary levels of risk. It has been carefully shaped around one simple principle: it must be deliverable.
“I am determined that the people of Brighton and Hove should not have to wait another generation for a modern leisure centre.
“I have seen some comments around the design of the new centre this it is not inspiring enough. Will this scheme be an architectural icon on the scale of the previous Frank Gehry scheme? No.
“But will it be elegant and sit comfortably in its iconic location on Hove seafront? Yes.
“Will it be a joyful building that people will love to use and that will inspire healthy and active living? Absolutely.
“The reality of this site is that it is on the seafront and by its nature constrained. There are challenges that the design team has had to confront and some compromises have been unavoidable.
“However, through expert and efficient design, the architects have managed to deliver the key elements set out in the city’s Sports Facilities Investment Plan.
“Our plan was not developed in isolation. We have engaged extensively with sports clubs, user groups, national governing bodies, residents, ward councillors, disability groups and leisure experts.
“We have partnered with Alliance Leisure, the leading local government leisure delivery specialist, and GT3 Architects, recognised leaders in leisure centre design.
“The team have designed with Design South East, urban design officers, other consultees and technical specialists to refine and improve the scheme at every stage.
“Together, we have created a building that is both functional and inspiring. We have expanded the ambition of the project to deliver not just the leisure centre but amazing place-making, with a new public plaza and regenerated public realm.
“The project will deliver a brilliant indoor and outdoor destination which local residents will ove and which visitors to the city will want to return to again and again.”
Mr Smith said that the new King Alfred would be “a place where memories will be made – a place where children will learn to swim”.
It would also, he said, be “a place that will create future athletes, a place where people will improve their health and wellbeing – physical and mental – a place where communities will come together (and) a place that will sit comfortably and confidently on Hove seafront”.
Mr Smith added: “After all the years of delay, all the years of debate and all the years of disappointment, it is a place that can finally become a reality.
“This city deserves a new leisure centre. And this city deserves a project that is not simply talked about but built.”
He urged the Planning Committee: “Please do not let another King Alfred project fail. Please help us ensure this one is delivered.”
This seems like an awful lot of hyperbole from a council official for a proposal that amounts to a local leisure centre along similar lines to the Dolphin Centre in Haywards Heath – with no leisure pool, no water slides suitable for over 8s and no diving boards.
I’m not clear why someone would come to the proposed centre from out of town when Worthing and Burgess Hill have far more to offer. Maybe the visitors will be tempted to return again and again for 680sqm of gym space or the new spin studio? I just hope all those athletes of tomorrow are weight lifters….
“The weight of history” is the weight of Hove citizens refusing to be conned out of their public leisure centre, time and time again. Mr Smith didn’t even have the honesty to present himself as a Council Officer with a vested interest in the King Alfred project going ahead when making a support comment under the guise of a normal member of the public.
To be fair, Tracy, the chair of the Planning Committee introduced Sam Smith as the head of place-making and Mr Smith said in one of his first sentences that he had “been part of this council long enough …” (see the 4th paragraph of this report). I don’t believe that there was any intention to deceive anyone about his status and involvement.