Beach sports company Yellowave can turn a toilet block into a café and offices on Hove seafront after councillors gave the scheme planning permission.
Yellowave, which already has a site in Kemp Town, overcame objections from people living on Hove seafront for its latest project in Western Esplanade.
More than 90 people objected to the scheme, according to a report to Brighton and Hove City Council’s Planning Committee. But 111 people sent in comments in support.
The committee met at Hove Town Hall yesterday (Wednesday 5 March) and approved the plans which form part of the new Hove Beach Park – a section of the seafront undergoing a £15 million revamp.
Susan Howard spoke on behalf of seafront residents, raising concerns about the “privatisation” and commercialisation of public space as well as the effect on the Sackville Gardens Conservation Area.
She said: “High-security fencing all around the adjoining area is unnecessary and will entirely destroy the setting, as will the proposed 3m-high container building on the Kingsway side.
“This will take up a quarter of the plaza and dominate the whole, including the bowls pavilion.”
Labour councillor Julie Cattell, who represents Westbourne and Poets Corner ward, said that the project was the last piece in the jigsaw of Hove Beach Park.
Councillor Cattell, the council’s major projects lead, said: “Where a development proposal would lead to less than substantial harm to the significance of a designated heritage site, this should be weighed against the public benefit including, where appropriate, the optimal environmental use.
“The heritage officer is of the view that this is the case here and welcomed elements such as the active use and repair and restorative works to the former public toilets, the fountain and the upgrading of an under-used site.”
Yellowave managing director Katie Mintram, 49, said that the business had been invited to tender for the sand sports area as the council looked to make up a funding shortfall.
The government awarded the £15 million project a £9.5 million “levelling up” grant but the council had to find the rest of the money – and was trying to keep costs down.
She said that the fencing was intended to open up the site to allow families to watch the sports while drinking coffee as children played in the sand pit – keeping balls in and intruders at bay.
Ms Mintram said: “Schools can use the indoor beach hut space designed to admit a class of 32 children so they can enjoy a carousel of activities while also being in the shade or out of the rain.
“Pedestrians can meander through the site, look at the pond or stop and watch the sports. The north gate will remain open to the public during operating hours.”
Yellowave is spending £38,000 on sand alone which will need to be cleaned and replaced every two years while the fence about 8ft to 9ft high – or between 2.4m and 2.75m.
Councillors asked why a private company would be managing the site. The council’s seafront manager Toni Manuel said that the council had looked into running it in-house and using a leisure company.
She said: “Somebody who’s operating a padel court may not necessarily be an expert in delivery of sand sports and vice versa. After much deliberation, we decided upon the single independent operator model.”
Green councillor Sue Shanks voted against the application because she was unhappy with the position of the additional building as overbearing and in an inappropriate place close to the road.
Councillor Shanks said: “I feel we’re being asked to make a decision on something that’s not just about planning. It’s about who organises things and who runs them and how much public space we give out to private companies.”
Labour councillor Maureen Winder said: “The design of anything that’s on the seafront matters because it’s an impression of the city and it’s how people feel about it.
“I’m very worried about the fencing and how that closes off an area where people are used to walking along and looking out over the sea and having a feeling of space and a view.”
Labour councillor Joy Robinson also voted against the application because she was not happy with the height and the area covered by fencing.
Another Labour councillor, Paul Nann, voted in favour. He praised Yellowave for being a local business run by people who lived in Hove and said that they were providing the sand sports area in a way that the council could not.
Councillor Nann, who represents Wish ward, said: “We’re never going to design a sand sports area that’ll fit into a chocolate boxy conservation area. It revitalises a moribund area of the seafront. It’s a no-brainer.”
Conservative councillor Carol Theobald said: “Yellowave do a marvellous job. I was there when they first opened in Madeira Drive and they would do a splendid job here. They are very successful and the beach house looks great.”
Is this the council closing a public toilet and allowing it to be run as a cafe by a private company, who in theory could impose rules on only customers being able to use the loos. That’s what it sounds like to me.
If you use the area you should already know about the brand new public toilets, which are just a few yards away. These are due to open soon.
That is why this old building – originally built as the bowling club clubhouse in the 1920s – is to be repurposed.
The good news is there will still be toilets in the remodelled building, and with extra ones on the same site for those using the new sandsports facilities.
On topic, I’m glad to hear the panning went through for Yellowave to run this section of Hove Beach Park, and I’m not sure why people were objecting to a fence that keeps the balls inside a beach volleyball court.
The fence being put up by Yellowave is actually a lot lower than the one originally planned by the council for this same site. Yellowave have however extended the fence to surround the cafe section so as to safeguard children using the sandpit play area and for safeguarding school groups using the courts.
With sand courts you also need a fence to keep out nocturnal animals who may use the sand as their litter tray.
Yellowave obviously have a lot of experience in running this sort of sports site, and as a nearby resident I look forward to using their cafe which will be serving healthy food for sporty people.
The whole of the new Hove Beach Park is really coming together and it;s already well worth a visit if you have n
That last sentence was supposed to read: .’…if you have not been’
Weren’t you corrected on this specifically in the last article, Soph?
I’ve not mentioned it before – it was just a question. I didn’t expect such a defensive and narky answer tbh.
Maybe go to Yellowave in Kemptown and see the benefits it gives to all ages? Health, fun and enjoyment and a great social space too. Change happens all the time, it doesn’t have to be so negative.
As you well know Billy, the objections were not to necessary fencing around the volleyball etc courts (as already approved) but to Yellowave fencing in the whole of the adjoining plaza. One has to wonder how the Council awarded the tender for the sand sports to a company who then said they couldn’t run it unless they could fence in that area. Yes, they need to make money of course but how did they tender for and get awarded the sand sports lease – as announced by the Council back in September – and only subsequently raise the additional fencing, the container building etc…
I remember the pitch and putt areas – a bit further along – where the council would franchise out this sunken field, and the man running the place then had to keep the grass cut, and he took the money and hired out golf clubs.
But of course most people didn’t pay, and because there was no fence they’d just wait until the guy went home and then they would play for free.
So if you have a modern sports facility it has to be fenced off and staffed, and they have to make money somehow. All the sports clubs I have ever belonged to had a cafe or bar, and that was what kept the place financially viable.
In this case, the old and derelict toilet block was always part of the site deal.. All the tenders included use of the cafe – a listed building which the new leaseholders are expected to refurbish and then to maintain.
On the plus side, we local residents and visitors all get the benefits.
I’m all for utilising unused space, but there doesn’t seem to be anything there that makes the most of the seaviews. There is so little space for dog walkers now, who are there year round.
I’ll have to disagree there. The new Bowls club has the Bison Beer restaurant upstairs with elevated sea views, and obviously there’s Rockwater and other seafront venues like Lex’s cafe.
Nobody giving using the area has lost any sea view.
Some of the other bids for the sandsports site proposed to put an upper deck on the converted toilet block – with sea views – but that was declined on the basis it’s a listed building. However I understand that the Yellowave cafe will have glass doors opening onto the promenade, even though the main focus of their business will be in the opposite direction.
We love our dogs and we have the promenade and some dog friendly beaches, plus the new park sections include a meadow/field for dogs to run about on.
A lot of the green area are still fenced off, but that’s to allow the greenery to establish itself after the cold and wet weather. I think that one section has yet to be seeded with grass.
it’s heart warming to walk down there and to see all this change happen.
I don’t think the other bidders were aware that Yellowave had been invited to tender, and were not encouraged to put in yet another café, so as it unravels, it appears that there was always a preferred bidder. It’s a little disingenuous to justify the fencing for the sake of child safety, when in reality, its majority use is to create a distinctive area for the sandsports and other events. Bottom line is that the playing area does need a secure fence to stop misuse after dark, but maybe a rethink on the design of vertical sleepers/mesh. Hopefully beach volley, beach tennis, foot volley will all get equal access to the space and to have permanent courts is a huge bonus.