A revamp of the Royal Pavilion Gardens in Brighton will include railings rather than fencing and a pledge to keep the historic grounds open 24 hours a day.
The decision underpins a £4.4 million joint application for lottery funding being planned by Brighton and Hove City Council and the Royal Pavilion and Museums Trust.
The plans include refurbishing the public toilets, which are currently closed, and include the creation of a “Changing Places accessible toilet”. Reopening the toilets would be a priority.
And two new statues could go up in the grounds where Brighton comedian Max Miller already stands. Proposals would honour suffragette Mary Clarke and the Indian soldiers nursed at the Pavilion during the First World War.
The grant application follows the reopening of the Corn Exchange and neighbouring Studio Theatre in May after a refurbishment costing almost £40 million, including more than £6 million of lottery funding.
Plans to give the Pavilion Gardens an overhaul have been under discussion for years, with the prospect of fencing off the area having been raised a number of times.
Those in favour of fencing say that it would make the gardens safer, more secure and allow for ticketed events to generate revenue.
Those against say that the public have always had free access to the area and that fencing off the grounds would be a back-door way of shutting the popular café there.
Senior councillors are due to discuss the proposed bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund at Hove Town Hall tomorrow (Friday 4 August) at a meeting of the council’s Strategy, Finance and City Regeneration Committee.
Council leader Bella Sankey said: “The aim of the project is to ensure our unique and historic Royal Pavilion Garden is a garden fit for a city and that it retains its listed status.
“This plan contains exciting proposals to restore some of the garden’s former glory as well as ensuring maximum use by residents and visitors.
“I’m particularly animated to see plans for a new world-class public toilet including a Changing Places toilet.”
Councillor Sankey added: “I hope this report is agreed by the Strategy, Finance and City Regeneration Committee on Friday so that the bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund can be made later this month and reach a successful outcome.”
The council said that the proposal involved “plans to redesign and restore the Royal Pavilion Gardens”.
It said: “The plan is to continue to develop the Royal Pavilion Estate as a world-class cultural and heritage site by improving the integration of the Royal Pavilion and Gardens, Brighton Dome, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre within their historic setting.
“Historic England placed the garden on its Heritage at Risk Register in 2017 and since this time a programme to protect and maintain the garden has been in development.
“Plans include improved footpaths, a new education space, a Changing Places accessible toilet and refurbished public toilets, the reinstatement of historic boundary railings and a new planting plan.
“Without these works being carried out there is the risk that the garden could lose its listed status.”
The council added: “Following discussions between the council and Royal Pavilion and Museums Trust, it has been agreed that 24-hour public access to the garden will be maintained.
“To protect its dual function as a palace garden and public park, a strategy to address serious criminal and anti-social behaviour in the garden will be agreed by the council, Royal Pavilion and Museums Trust and other stakeholders.
“Measures might include joint working with the police, increased security, improved lighting and design and expanded CCTV coverage.
“This strategy aims to demonstrate to the National Lottery Heritage Fund that, if it awards grant funding, its considerable investment will be safeguarded and the garden maintained in the future.
“Discussions will also continue about the siting of and potential funding for proposed statues, including a statue of Indian Soldiers who fought in World War I and were nursed in the Royal Pavilion and a statue of suffragette Mary Clarke who was active in Brighton in 1909-10.
“These would provide important social context for the Royal Pavilion and its gardens and also create an opportunity for increased community engagement.
“The public toilets in the garden are currently closed as they have been the focus of anti-social behaviour and vandalism.
“Under the plan, they will be replaced with a ‘secure by design’ toilet building to provide a safer environment for visitors. A Changing Places toilet is also part of the bid for funding.
“The council will explore bringing forward the refurbishment of the toilets, including the Changes Places toilet, to achieve reopening as soon as possible.
“Current estimates suggest that the toilets could be brought back into use by early 2025 and before the main project works to the garden start later that year. These timings would be subject to a successful National Lottery Heritage Fund bid.
“In the meantime, the council is considering how to ensure there are adequate toilet facilities for those visiting the garden and will provide further information on this in due course.
“The committee will be asked to agree a contribution of up to £250,000 for toilet refurbishment for the project.”
Good news for North Laine Community Association and Living Streets Brighton & Hove, who asked the Council & Trustees not to fence in the public park. And thanks to the Council and Trustees for listening.
What on earth does the Council leader mean by “a world-class public” lavatory? Will people be discussing it in Sydney, Paris and New York?
Robert Kyle said some time ago that Brighton is Up there with likes of Nice and Barcelona…..so up grading the toilets is the start.!
Sorry, did I say Robert Kyle? Well I meant Peter Kyle.
Yes, an attendant will be in there to proffer visitors soap from Moulton Browne and individually steamed towels. A barber will also be available to provide a close shave. If the Council budget can find a way, there is also be to head massages as it is vital to the health to nurture a flexible scalp.
2025 to get toilets back in this location is completely unacceptable, and probably unrealistic with such grand plans needing to be implemented. The current toilets should be reopened for public use while this project takes shape and remain open until new facilities are in place. If a new toilet block can be designed safely, surely some of these measures can be implemented now in the current block?
THE PROBLEM IS THE PISSHEAD COMMUNITY , HOMELESS PEOPLE DOING THEIR WASHING AND WASHING THEMSELVES WHEN THEY SHOULD BE USING FIRST BASE , ETC AND THE JUNKIES SHOOTING UP THESE PEOPLE LIVE LIKE PIGS SND TREAT PROPERTY THE SAME THE COUNCIL CLEANERS ALWAYS SEEM TO BE ON A PERMANENT SMOKE BREAK WHEN I MENTIONED IN THE PAST NO BOG ROLLS , NO SOAP , ETC – ” THEY AIN’,T COME IN MATE “
Impressed by your input and it took 2of you aswell..nice.
You don’t have to shout! We can hear you.
The history of the Royal Pavilion car park and how Henri, Le Marquis de Chambrun was a key influence removing the 60 cars parked in the Pavilion entrance in 1979.
The cafe that isn’t even open when its raining! Ha, what a joke. Also I think Mary Clarke had some pretty anti-trans views. I think it would be bad taste to have her statue there. I quite like the Indian solider idea tho.
So a world class toilet is what animates the new leader of the council as well as badly designed statues. Naive politics and ignorance by a leader only interested in being elected as an MP wins over cherishing and preserving the iconic symbol of the city.
Hope this works out, but i have serious doubts, just look at the Level, toilets now being boarded up due to vandals, after millions of pounds spent on improvements, which were great for a while. Not sure Pavilion Gardens wont end up the same without extra night time security. As for concerns about being fenced off just look at Preston Park now!
Good grief – what a bad move by BHCC. It’s not a city park, it’s an important “at risk” grade II* historic garden surrounding a world-famous Grade I listed iconic palace, currently a rapers and muggers paradise after dark. Why on earth would the council be against protecting this amazing and vulnerable building from drunks, vandals, and all the unsavoury things that happen every night? Ah yes…that old chestnut….. politics….. Maybe try looking at the facts rather than trying to win popularity contests amongst the voices that have been shouting the loudest.
A covered area should be built next to the cafe, so that it could remain open in all weathers. With adequate glazing and heating, when sealed off from the elements, the cafe could then remain open throughout the year, even in winter.
Someone would only throw rock cakes at it
Two new Statues! What a waste of funding. Disappointing start to Labours reign.
When the Prince Regent was in residence it was a gated space to keep the hoypaloy and the vagrants out. The great unwashed are back, ergo put up the barriers.
I dislike the use of language in this article – ‘fence’ makes it sounds like it’s being turned into a compound. We don’t even fully know the proposals are yet.
This is a Heritage status Palace garden which, because of it being a well-documented hotspot for crime (rape. murder. assault. drug dealing. THE LIST GOES ON) is at risk of losing that status. Surely closing it off at night makes complete sense if you actually want to make a meaningful difference in celebrating & protecting the space AND the people who use it. How many ‘typical people’ actually use it regularly between approx. 9pm – 6am. The cafe certainly wont be open…
Can’t wait to see how councillors pick this up and spin different issues to suit their agendas at the expense of real change.