City businesses: Let us help you shore up the seafront

Yesterday the government revealed they had given Brighton and Hove City Council £9 million to refurbish a section of the city’s historic seafront, which was at risk of collapse.

But now the Brighton and Hove’s traders and business bosses are offering to help the council save the city’s crumbling seafront – which has been given the price tag of £100 million.

The government cash will be used to repair the currently propped up Shelter Hall structure at the end of West Street.

It has been vacant since 2013 after the previous occupiers were evicted due to safety concerns.

Speaking to The Argus yesterday seafront traders said they would like to work with the council to help bid for more funding from other sources.

Adam Chinnery, owner of Brighton Watersports in King’s Road and member of the Brighton Seafront Traders’ Association, said: “It will be up to the council to work with the businesses.

“Each individual business is of course run by someone who is relatively successful and if we work with the council there are lots of doors that can be opened as no one wants to see the seafront become an eyesore.”

He added:“It should have been thought about many years ago and working together to get investment takes pressure off trying to recoup the money from the businesses themselves through things like rents.”

This newspaper exclusively revealed that £100 million was needed to renovate the seafront.

Jeremy Ogden, chairman of Brighton and Hove Hotel Association (BHHA), said he is sympathetic to the challenge the council is facing: “The issue with the seafront is it is such a substantial amount of money. Brighton does not have, apart from the Amex, any big significant industry.

“The £9 million is about damage limitation. Clearly people now need to make decisions about how they can get this money – this is not something we should be fighting over, it is something for us to all be working together on.”

The council agreed earlier this year to research an investment programme for the area – which will be discussed at a meeting of the policy and resources committee in September.

Neil Sykes, owner of the Modern World Gallery and the secretary of the Brighton Seafront Traders’ Association, said: “The council have their eyes and ears down here on a daily basis and we need to work with each other.

“There should be debriefing sessions at the end of every season and we should talk to the council officers.”

He added: “We should be working to tap into funding sources like approaching the National Lottery Heritage Fund and there is also the possibility of a European Commission grant from Brussels.”

• The council's 'biggest challenge yet'

THE council is continuing to investigate how to source the rest of the funds needed to secure the seafront.

The £9 million is a start but other sections of the seafront are in need of repair to both protect the historic promenade and secure it for future generations.

Councillors have previously called the seafront the “biggest challenge facing the city”.

Earlier this year there was cross party support for a ten-year-plan to work out how to source the £100 million needed to protect the iconic seafront. Councillor Jason Kitcat, leader of the council, said: “A lot of work is going on or is in the pipeline on the seafront – ten new seafront arches which opened last year, work has started on the i360 observation tower, and plans have been put forward for an open water swimming centre to transform the old Peter Pan’s playground site in Madeira Drive, for example.

“But more work is needed, particularly to some of the Victorian seafront arches which house businesses and provide structural support to the A259, and to the Madeira Terrace which needs extensive renovation.

“The Seafront Investment Programme will be a new approach co-ordinating all activity and investment in relation to the seafront. In a difficult financial climate it will be vital that we look at new ways of securing investment and opportunities for external sources of funding.”

Some traders were optimistic about the future plans such as the government funding for Shelter Hall but others emphasised the need for the council to be cautious.

Kathryn Matthews, owner of the Two Kats and a Cow gallery on the seafront, said: “I am so thrilled. It is a beautiful building with a unique structure which is why it has had the problems as it was built unlike any other.

“The fact it is going to be renovated means the whole strip on the central beach is looking on the way up as for a while it looked like a building site.”

Neil Sykes, owner of Modern World Gallery and secretary of the Brighton Seafront Traders Association, said: “I do not feel it should have been left to get into that state in the first place. The council will need to do an impact assessment and forward it to all traders in that vicinity as it will have major impact.

“Being based in Madeira Drive you have to ask what about the rest of the seafront?

“They have been supposed to have been repairing one of the arches but there are no signs of it being done or the work being completed.”

The seafront provides a major contribution to the city’s visitor economy which is valued at £800 million a year and sees 11 million tourists come to the city.

Councillor Geoffrey Theobald said: “This really is excellent news indeed and demonstrates the Government’s commitment to this city’s future prosperity. The seafront is Brighton and Hove’s shop window and is at the heart of our tourism industry. It is, therefore, vital that the council is able to secure investment to keep it safe and attractive.”

A total of ten restored Victorian seafront arches under the King’s Road were opened last year and funds from the latest local transport plan will support phase 2 of the arches strengthening work, next to the i360 viewing tower site – which is due for completion this autumn.

Labour councillor Gill Mitchell warned “there are other areas such as the Madeira Terrace which is in dire need of restoration and where currently there is no obvious funding solution in sight”.

• What is planned for the project?

THE project to renovate the Shelter Hall structure and improve the West Street junction is predicted to secure the section for 120 years.

The total funding Brighton and Hove City Council will receive is £8,915,000 from the Department for Transport – which will be delivered over three financial years.

The authority will also contribute £1,699,000 from their own budget to secure the scheme, which is predicted for completion in 2017 or 2018.

The need for the more than 130 year-old structure to be renovated comes after it failed a structural assessment.

After the assessment the Shelter Hall’s occupiers Riptide Gym were evicted due to the safety concerns. Shelter Hall is identified by the council as “at risk of collapse” and is currently propped up with temporary measures which the council estimate would cost them £110,000 a year to continue.

Work will also be carried out to renovate the seafront junction at the bottom of West Street with a renewal of the road layout.

The plans for this have not yet been revealed but the council application claims the new road will see improved traffic flow and safety for both motorists and cyclists.

It is estimated the area is used by 36,000 vehicles, 30,000 pedestrians and 2,500 cyclists every day.

Yesterday the city council could not confirm when the work will start but Councillor Ian Davey assured “traffic disruption during the works will be kept to a minimum”.

He added: “Doing nothing is not an option. Left unattended there will be deterioration with an increasing risk of collapse with serious consequences for the future of the road and the city. “People have been calling for us to ensure the road is fit for traffic. “That’s what we’ve been doing and that’s what we’ll continue doing thanks to winning this money.”

In the city council’s application they warned a collapse on the westbound A259 would result in the need for more than £1 million in traffic diversions, which could lead to an additional 8.4km added to the journey of westbound traffic.

If estimations for the work completion date are correct it is likely it will run alongside the first phases of the Valley Gardens Project – which is due to begin construction in September.

Councillor Gill Mitchell said: “It is very difficult to say how the works to the West Street junction will fit in with the proposed works to Valley Gardens and all the while there is such uncertainty between the Greens and the Tories over the retention or removal of the Aquarium Roundabout.”