Work to strip back and repaint a section of Hove seafront’s railings is due to start next week.
Specialist contractors will begin garnet blasting – an environmentally friendly version of sand blasting – about 300 metres of railings west of the Meeting Place cafe.
It’s hoped this means original details, including the Martlets of the Sussex County emblem cast into the central circle of each panel, will be clearly visible once they are repainted.
Brighton and Hove City Council says it chose this approach following several trials of paint systems and preparation methods, as it offers a longer-lasting finish than other methods.
The railings will be covered while this work is carried out.
The work is due to be completed by September when the first phase of the programme will pause over the autumn/winter. This phase will also include restoration of the shelter opposite Waterloo Street.
Phase 2 will begin next spring when the air temperature starts to increase and winter storms have passed.
Councillor David McGregor, Cabinet Member for Economy, Culture, Heritage and Tourism, said: “But by taking a section at a time and working with specialists we can ensure that this important part of our heritage is properly restored and preserved for future generations.”
The restoration project is part of the council’s current programme of maintenance and improvement work along the seafront to keep it looking spectacular, welcoming and fit for the future.
Earlier this year, eleven of the distinctive cucumber benches along Hove seafront were restored and repainted, with help and support from volunteers.
Councillor McGregor added: “Once the current project has been completed, we’d love to hear from any community groups interested in adopting a stretch of railing, or a restored shelter, and undertaking minor maintenance to the paintwork to help keep them looking clean and tidy.”
No specialist contractors needed, just good ones who know how to strip railings right down and paint them properly with the appropriate paint. A section is not much good though. They should have tendered for all the seafront railings and then put them on a rolling contract every three-five years so they never get in this state again. Piecemeal work is always best avoided for a consistent finish.
On the contrary Tracy.
A specialist contractor is required to do the work properly.
Not every building contractor will have the equipment needed to do the job properly or the knowledge to deal with repairs to cast iron.
And a 300m section is hardly ‘piecemeal’. To me it’s a good start.
Hove Prom is scheduled to be done next year.
https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/news/2026/working-together-maintain-seafront-be-proud
Trace, where’s the cash coming from for your maintenance utopia?
Nice to see you have specific expertise in heritage restoration though.
Hope they do a better job of matching the colour than was done with the high backed ‘cucumber benches’ on Hove Lawns
The shelter near the Meeting Place on the Prom is in a terrible state. That should be renovated if the railings are going to be done there and hopefully the benches. So much has been neglected until they are literally falling apart. Why?
Incompetence
The upper terrace has been given a new layer of tarmac so many times that the bottom of the panels is mostly submerged now, in the stretch by the West Pier.
The handrail is now so low that it becomes a falling hazard and does not by any stretch meet safety regulations, but the incompetence of the council to just carry on doing what they always do will prevail. Morons mentoring the next generation of morons.
I expect someone will need to die before they even notice what they have done, and then it will be ‘blame someone else”, probably blame the public, like they always do.
What is the cost of this please?