Proposals for a new swimming pool and leisure centre in Hove is due to go before councillors next month. Brighton and Hove City Council’s cabinet forward plan for July states that a report setting out the options for a new leisure centre will go before councillors for a decision on Thursday 18 July. The cabinet will also consider the leisure operator’s contract, currently held by Freedom Leisure, which expires in the spring of 2026.
The new centre will either be at the King Alfred site, in Kingsway, Hove, or at the Old Shoreham Road end of Benfield Valley, in Hangleton. More than 3,500 people responded to a public consultation in January and February for a new “state of the art” leisure centre to serve the west of Brighton and Hove. King Alfred fans started a petition supported by 664 people, calling on the council to restore the existing building – as has happened with the art deco 1930s Saltdean Lido.
The existing 1939 building on Hove seafront is considered no longer fit for purpose and had to close at times over the past two winters when the boilers stopped working. Previous schemes to build a new leisure centre and housing on the site have failed. The current proposals include a 25-metre swimming pool, a separate learner pool and splash pad, a sports hall and a health and fitness centre, with a gym and cycling studio.
The full report is due to be released five working days before the cabinet meeting. Brighton and Hove has a shortage of swimming pools, according.
