Funding and design fears over £65m leisure centre

Fears that a redeveloped leisure centre for Hove could be an "i360-style" burden to council tax payers have been downplayed.

The £65m project for the new King Alfred Leisure Centre will see the facility open by 2028.

Campaigners have opposed the plans, raising concerns that similar mistakes would be made as with Brighton's i360 tower, which saw £51m of council debt written off to secure its sale.

But Brighton & Hove City Council cabinet member Alan Robins told BBC Radio Sussex: "The i360 was an entirely different way of funding. The King Alfred centre will remain as a council building."

He added: "This way we're hanging on to the investment."

The new leisure centre is expected to include a larger fitness suite, leisure water area and a family entertainment zone.

The council announced in 2024 its intention to demolish and replace the original 1939 building.

Campaigners held a meeting at the leisure centre on Thursday to discuss the plans.

Heritage campaigner Laura King, who organised the meeting, described the plan as replacing the original building with a "shoebox."

"It was built as a flagship facility with a rooftop restaurant and 480 spaces underground," King said.

"So if we retrofit it, it will be a flagship leisure centre again.

"But actually we're exchanging it for a shoebox in order to build tower blocks around it."

A planning application has been submitted and preparatory work for the project is already under way, including planting and landscaping.

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