Brighton’s big wheel looks likely to return, with the council’s cabinet being asked to approve a 25-year lease for the attraction on its former site in Madeira Drive.
A report to the council’s cabinet, which is due to meet on Thursday (17 September), said that the proposal, which would be subject to planning permission, would result in a “significant increase in rental income” for the council.
As well as bringing in income, the returning wheel would not result in “capital cost or operational risk to the council”.
The potential new operator was not named in the report but was described as a local family business, likely to be Brighton Zip and Dalton’s Bastion operators Madeira Leisure Limited owned by Jayne and Jeffrey Sanders.
The couple registered Bastion Entertainments Limited with Companies House at the end of last month.
The finances are also kept under wraps in restricted papers published for cabinet members’ eyes only.
When the Brighton Wheel was in place between 2011 and 2016, it proved a popular attraction.
But it had been agreed that the wheel would not remain in place at the same time as the i360, owned and operated by Marks Barfield.
The report to the council’s cabinet said: “At the time, the council took the view that supporting the launch of the new multimillion-pound i360 attraction was important to help it establish itself as a flagship visitor destination for Brighton and Hove.
“The wheel’s removal, around 10 years ago, reflected the council’s commitment to enabling the i360 to develop and strengthen the city’s tourism offer.”
After the collapse of the Brighton i360 company, the attraction was bought out of administration by entrepreneur Sarah Willingham’s company Nightcap, with more of a focus on hospitality.
The report said that the i360 had become better established and the wheel would complement existing attractions and provide a different visitor experience.
The report also said: “The proposal aligns with the council’s objectives to support economic growth, increase commercial property income, enhance the visitor economy and deliver visible improvements along the seafront.
“The return of the Brighton Wheel would complement existing attractions, increase footfall to the eastern seafront and contribute to the long-term vitality and attractiveness of the area.”
The wheel is expected to support and fit in with businesses to the east of the Palace Pier, including the Brighton Zip, Volk’s Railway, the Sea Life Centre and adventure golf.
The council’s cabinet is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 10.30am on Thursday (17 September). The meeting is scheduled to be webcast.
I love the way the council got rid of the attraction in the first place once the I360 was up and running and seen as competition. Now that the council have sold the I360 on for a handfull of pounds and has no further intrest in it they want to bring the wheel back! It really goes to show that this council really can’t be trusted!
On the contrary, this administration has done quite well in sorting out the ticking bomb that was handed to them by the previous Green group allied to the Tories. I am not a fan of this talentless Council but I have to reflect on this awful mess that is infamous amongst local authorities. If they can benefit from the return of the wheel, it is a big plus imo.
I agree this is a good decision and hopefully may bring more funding for the Madeira Terraces. The Green/Tory ‘mess’ whatever we think of the i360 did in fact vastly improve the western seafront, and with further improvement to the arches I see no reason now to be cynical.
Wait. Is this the same Labour council which got RID of the Brighton Wheel? And have since got RID of most of the visitor parking in Madeira Drive and elsewhere nearby, ramping up the cost of the rest of nearby parking to eye watering levels? They have also obstructed the gateway to the city with VG3 and a bus gate parking fine on the way out of the city. Everything they have done is city sabotage to the point that the Brighton Pier is now up for sale and the two main LGBT club venues have just closed down.
Whataboutisms and Red Herrings are poor arguments, James.
Actually he has a point!
He doesn’t, that’s the main problem with a fallacy, like the ones James has presented…it’s bad logic.
That’s in your opinion but I’m in agreement with James and not with you if that’s ok?
Unfortunately, it’s a textbook example of a logical fallacy, our opinion on if we agree with it or not is irrelevant here. Again, that’s the problem with a fallacy, it’s not debatable. It’s objectively flawed.
No its not the same group of people that got rid of the wheel.
James is on the spectrum and hates change is what I get, every single article he comments on is wah wah wah why are they changing everything, everything was perfect the way it was, even though it really isn’t.
I really wish people wouldn’t make out as if the sale of the pier has anything to do with a downturn in visitors etc. Brighton Pier group has been liquidating its assets for a couple of years now. It was originally a bars and clubs operator, then sold al! That and thought it was smart to go into tourist attractions like the pier, and now because of a much wider downturn due to cost of living etc, has been selling everything it owns and returning money to shareholders, presumably with the intention to then liquidate and close. All the problems you say may be very valid, but don’t be fooled that this Pier decision is anything other than them trying to flog the family silver before closing.
We are currently staring down a cost-of-living crisis, and the Council is openly contemplating a 5% tourist tax to capture disposable visitor spending. At the same time, they want to give a gold-plated, 25-year monopoly to an operator currently charging an astronomical £22 for a 30-second zip ride. How is an average local family supposed to afford this? This isn’t a community asset; it’s an exclusionary tourist trap that sucks money out of the local economy and hands it to a single operator for the rest of their working life.
Legal Time Bomb – The Council and the developer are treating local objectors like standard NIMBYs, but the legal landscape has fundamentally changed. The UK Supreme Court ruled in a 2023 landmark case (Fearn v Tate Modern) that constant, severe visual intrusion from elevated commercial platforms into residential spaces is a legally actionable private nuisance. A 164-foot Ferris wheel turning slowly overlooking residential seafront windows, seven days a week into the night, is a textbook violation of this ruling. If the Council approves this planning permission, they are actively exposing the city to a massive, expensive class-action lawsuit from affected neighbours.
A 25-year lease completely locks up Dalton’s Bastion, blocking any future, genuinely public use of our beach for a generation. We need a seafront that serves the community—not an unaccountable, overpriced monopoly.
The Council is desperate for money to shore up its own budget shortfalls. Bragging about a “guaranteed income” for 25 years, is only as good as the tenant signing it. We need transparency on the financial vetting of this operator and its history, as well as the viability of any guarantees given.
I think it would be valuable to point out that the Tourist Tax proposals are for consideration by the Strategic Authority, who will have the power to enact them, not Brighton council.
You make a very interesting legal argument; especially because I would use the same case study to defend the Ferris wheel. Specifically, I’d look at the cited “Common and Ordinary” test. Seafronts traditionally host amusement attractions, observation towers, and leisure facilities. A Ferris wheel fits within this established pattern of seafront leisure use. The features of a typical Ferris wheel also mitigate much of what was used in Fearn. Combined with planning permission, there’s a strong defence that the threshold, as defined in Fearn, would not be met.
Seems a bit weird to bring it back ten years after ditching it!
How well was it doing ten years ago when it wasn’t so difficult and expensive for visitors to travel here with their families and park?
They didn’t want competition for the i360.
Things change over ten years, Tracy.
Yes. This city has become a lot poorer in the last ten years. The universities are keeping their students living on campus to maximise revenue out of them post-covid so students are only spending a fraction of the money they used to spend in the city centre. Meanwhile the council have been busy scaring visitors away with nightmare transport systems and fines and rip off parking – providing visitors can actually find one. Not even a Tourism office any more. Now they seek to re-hash an old idea when they have made conditions wholly unviable for it to succeed again.
Tourist figures in Brighton contradict your opinion completely. And, ultimately, the operator thinks it is a viable project and presumably has a reasonable business plan to back that up, so your assertion that it is unviable has no merit.
And ranting about students is irrelevant red herring nonsense.
There are some interesting comments here, not least from those wishing to talk about the state of the local economy, and about how council decisions can affect – and have affected – the tourist trade.
But, on topic, the decision to bring back the wheel is a good one.
The council will get more rent from it being there, and it’s an added year-round visitor attraction for Madeira Drive.
The hope is that having one more attraction doesn’t split limited disposable income further, but instead increases visitor footfall.
If you visit other seaside resorts, you soon find that Brighton and Hove has the most to offer for holidaying families and day trippers. And we should be proud of that.
It’s another discussion all together about how and why many business sectors are struggling.
Ok, but why 25 years for goodness sake? Talk about tying our hands. I mean the wheel is OK – I Don’t hate it, but 25 years is bonkers.