A new swimming pool could be built at the Withdean Sports Complex (WSC) if councillors back the plan.
Brighton and Hove City Council has been looking for new sites for pools across the area, with a public consultation under way on where to build a replacement for the King Alfred.
A report to the council’s Culture, Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Economic Development Committee meeting next Thursday (18 January) asks members to “agree in principle” to a new pool at Withdean.
Councillors are also asked to back a feasibility study of where a new pool could be built in the east of the city, with Moulsecoomb floated as a possibility.
The report said that Withdean was “in reach of communities in the north west and east of the city who may be less physically active or be experiencing poorer health outcomes”.
It said: “The site is accessible by bus, active travel and has associated parking on site. A pool at Withdean would also be accessible for many local schools to use.
“This is of key importance to ensure children in our city continue to learn to swim and are confident in water – particularly as this was impacted so heavily during the covid-19 pandemic and we are still catching up now.
“There are a number of primary and secondary schools within a two-mile radius of the centre.
“The proposed scheme will include a five-lane 25m community pool with changing rooms, toilets and other ancillary facilities.
“The new pool will be a modular above ground pool, meaning that build costs are reduced and the construction time line is less compared to conventional pool builds.
“This approach would in no way effect the quality of the facility for the end user and would have a lifespan of up to 40 years if maintained effectively.”
The capital cost of the project is expected to be £5.8 million, with a 7.5 per cent contingency. Currently, though, the council has no funds set aside for increasing swimming capacity.
The report said: “Other funded items in the capital programme could potentially be reprioritised but this is unlikely to be acceptable.
“There may be a small amount of section 106 (developer) funds or possible CIL (community infrastructure levy) monies available but it is currently assumed that this project would need to be financed from corporate borrowing.
“If the council was to borrow the £5.8 million required, at a rate of 4 per cent, this would mean a loan repayment of approximately £296,000 per annum, assuming a 40-year lifespan/period.
“The new pool, supported by the wider leisure contract, will therefore need to make sufficient income to meet operating costs and service loan repayments.”
An annual income of almost £570,000 would be necessary to service the loan for the proposed pool.
The council has secured £400,000 from Sport England’s Swimming Pool Support Fund – but this money is to help the continuing operation of pools in the city.
Councillors are also asked to commit £450,000 of borrowing to cover professional fees for detailed design and survey work and planning consent.
Once design work is complete, a report would go to the Strategy, Finance and City Regeneration Committee which could approve any further borrowing that might be needed.
More feasibility work needs to be carried out for the east of the city, the report said, including the option of a pool at the Moulsecoomb Community Leisure Centre.
An initial analysis suggested that the cost of operating a swimming pool in Moulsecoomb would be more expensive than at the Withdean Sports Complex where the staffing levels offer economies of scale.
The report said that there was a shortfall of public swimming pools in Brighton and Hove which is currently served by the Prince Regent, in the North Laine, St Luke’s, in Brighton, and the King Alfred, in Hove. They are all more than 30 years old.
In 2021, councillors approved the Sports Facilities Investment Plan (SFIP) which identified the need for more council-owned pools.
The report said: “One of the key findings was that the current demand for pool water in the city exceeds supply, and that any closure or loss of a facility will result in a significant pressure on the remaining facilities for use for the public and club swimming.
“Work has been undertaken since the launch of the SFIP in 2021, and will continue, to carefully consider the options for increasing the amount of pool/water space in the city to meet the current and future needs.”
In 2022-23 there were 465,708 swimming visits to the three pools. Currently, 2,600 children take part in the leisure operating company Freedom Leisure’s Learn to Swim School and more than 250 are on the waiting list.
The Prince Regent had the most visits in 2022-23, at 237,815, compared with 177,501 at the King Alfred and 50,392 at St Luke’s.
The council’s Culture, Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Economic Development Committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 4pm on Thursday 18 February. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
As one of the councillors within Withdean, this proposal was mentioned to me by Officers 6 months ago, with the pool located where the paddle tennis is played, with the court moved to the north side. There are tenders for Withdean car-park to be resurfaced & lined with electric charging points to be done by March 2024 & the children’s soft play indoor facility is in hand.
A swimming pool here, is a distinct possibility
I think this is a great idea, but often wondered why Stanley Deason Leisure centre has not been looked at. Also in an accessible area via public transport. Also an area that people could benefit from having an activity close to hand, benefiting older and younger people alike. There is also a parking area.
I hope if a new pool is built at withdean.
Will there be disabled access in and out of the pool?
This would be amazing! This part of Brighton needs a swimming pool, there has been no good alternative since Virgin Active shut. I would happily pay more on my membership fee to the Withdean if there was a pool.
It would be great to consult on this with the tech startup, Deep Green. They are piloting using waste heat from data centers to heat swimming pools, estimating that energy costs can be reduced by 60%.
A pool at Withdean would be fantastic!
Please make this happen! It’s on the bus route, there is the park and ride and withdene is an important part of Brighton and Hove often left at the bottom of the list
This proposal was mentioned to me by Officers 6 months ago, with the pool located where the paddle tennis is played, with the court moved to the north side. There are tenders for Withdean car-park to be resurfaced & lined with electric charging points to be done by March 2024 & the children’s soft play indoor facility is in hand.
A swimming pool here, is a distinct possibility
How is Withdean accessible for those in East Brighton…? The local secondary schools have access to a swimming pool already, with there being a pool on the Stringer/Varndean site already? But those on the Whitehawk/Bevendean/Moulescoomb estates once again get overlooked.
I agree with you. It’s on a bus route but it takes nearly an hour by bus from East Brighton each way! We need something in the east!
Any new pool in this city would be fantastic but also about time too.
A pool at Withdean would be an amazing resource & easily accessible to many people. I am passionate about swimming as a way of keeping fit as it is adaptable for practically everyone. As an occupational therapist working in the city I think there should be more done to promote swimming as a means of overall health & weight loss (social prescribing?)
Yeah that’s what Brighton needs a swimming pool, not more housing or better health care, education, cleaner streets, netter parking, no just not enough water to swim in at Brighton, that’s what’s missing.
How do we do all these things? Have you thought of a plan and the funding or are you expecting someone else mastermind it?
Residents getting fitter helps the city many ways: reduce healthcare needs, improve mental health and optimism, encourage self powered transport instead of motorised. Physical fitness is a power up for anything else we wish to do, it does not have a down side
I’d there was a proper park and ride coupled with some sort of express bus the this would be an asset but currently the transport links to this area of the city are not amazing and it’s very slow going on the number 5 or 27
Water polo kids need a deep pool for training. We currently have such limited options that we can only go late at night on weekend. So to have an additional pool for training would be great but would need a deep pool. Plus for physio therapy patients including myself we need pools for rehabilitation. So more options is definitely needed in Brighton.
I think a feasibility study for a 50m pool would be sensible. If to competition standard it would attract regional, national and potentially international competitions with the direct income plus the indirect revenue to hospitality sector
why another pool??? why not a skate rink or an ice rink ?? we have so many pools AND THE SEA already
So having threatened us with city bankruptsy, BHCC’s magic money tree is now back in action, magically back pumping out more and more for unnecessary projects, if a slightly more desirable project than the controversial VG3. But following the obscene amount of money recently spent on Surrenden Pool, according to the contract below, shouldn’t this pool be opened up to all local residents?
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/2553f66a-036c-4430-841f-176868a529bb?origin=SearchResults&p=1
At nearly £300K per annum for 40 years to repay a loan, I hope some realistic income and expenditure figures have been used to check the financial feasibility, as well as contingency planning for when the initial cost doubles, before going any further.
It would be fantastic but please make it accessible to all at planning stage, staggered steps and not just a hoist. It is 2024, the mobility impaired shouldn’t have to pressure providers after the event due to thoughtless planning ( as was the case with the new Sea Lanes facility). Get accessibility advisors in at the planning stage for all new builds.
This is fantastic news! Please consider building diving pool/boards like Splashpoint and slides like the Triangle? A mini wave pool!
Will there be other facilities like in door basketball, badminton, trampolines?
Thank you so much
If there was room, another ideal site for a pool would be by Moulsecoomb Leisure Centre, that whole area is currently up for redevelopment. That’s massively accessible by public transport for the entire City as it’s just off Lewes Road and near Moulsecoomb station, it would be a huge boost to the Leisure Centre too.
Withdean is a nice area and they allready have a posh leisure centre meanwhile the city council are bankrupt what twoddle
Seeing class diffence and neglect to the actual city centre and outskirts. Look at King alfs
Brighton and Hove City Council want to move it to hangleton that’s awful and it is a city after all. Start looking after the places we allready got like doing up King
Alfs
Great idea but also think Brighton needs a pool similar to Worthings Splash Point. So many people travel to Worthing or Burgess Hill Triangle as no similar facility in Brighton. Swimming in the sea is great but is not for all, also they need to sort out the pollution spillages. They would probably need to re-locate and invest in a decent park and ride too if putting a pool at Withdean.
Whether it’s the old Stanley Deeson area or With Dean free adequate parking is important as this is a great disadvantage to the king Alfred site.
Fantastic idea, Brighton needs a great pool which is accessible
1. I don’t live in Hove, but I would expect Hove Cllrs to being doing more to retain access to a pool for Hove residents – Brighton has 4 pools currently – Yes In Our Backyards.
2. There’s an opportunity to do something quite creative here, this important piece of community infrastructure needs to be considered within wider placemaking context – does BHCC have a strategic team that considers placemaking.
3. What work has taken place to analysis current pool provision – prince regent / k alfred – high demand – st lukes – low demand – sealanes – medium demand – varndean – I dunno. And what lessons can be learned in terms of, type of provision, location, cost – ect
4. New pool to replace king Alfred/ Prince regent has been needed for years – both buildings no longer fit for purpose – but let’s hope there’s some proper strategic and long term thinking that goes into this – just because it’s an election year we don’t want it to become about political point scoring
Would have been great to bring something like this to Moulsecoomb or Stanley Deason. Staffing economies of scale seems a weak argument for investing in one of the most affluent areas of the city with the best health outcomes.
FIVE lanes – seriously? A 5 lane 25m pool is no good AT ALL for competitive swimming. Must be a minimum of 6 lanes or preferably 8 lanes. Why 5 lanes – this is an ignorant false economy? Have they consulted any of the swimming clubs in Sussex or indeed Swim England? Obviously not. Better still an 8 lane 50m pool although I admit this would be very expensive. Why five?
Moulsecoomb Leisure Centre has the most bus services and the most frequencies due to being on the University corridor on the Lewes Road, so easier to use by buses (and a train station).
When the Moulsecoomb Leisure Centre was first built in the 1970s the locals campaigned for a pool as this part of the town was so far away from then existing facilities.
As one commentator has raised, the area is about to have a new housing and community development next to the Leisure Centre and a pool would fit in very well with these plans.
The city statistics show time and time again how Moulsecoomb is one of the least healthy areas in which to live, due to high mortality from lung related illnesses and lower life expectancy and this has not been helped by lack of sports facilities such as a pool which would play its part in improving health locally.
I thought there was no money?? Why is the council looking to borrow more then?? It’s not exactly a wise move if they are on the edge of bankruptcy. What are they thinking! You can’t afford to keep nurseries and schools open but you can find some money to have a pool. The council needs to get their priorities in check. They don’t know their heads to their ****.
There are a lot of issues with your statement, which kind of explains why you’d think that way…
We need the King Alfred site to be refurbished. The public consultation currently open on that development plans for a new Hive pool and leisure centre clearly is skewed in favour of what the council wants…to move it to Hangleton. But Hangleton is not accessible for many.
I would stop going for one but would use a rebuilt King Alfred Kuch more. It’s on the seafront, like the Worthing Pool, it’s next to the whole new outdoor activity area of Kingsway to the Sea which is finally underway, and is easy to get to by foot, bus, bike and car.
I suspect the Council want to move the KA to Hangleton so they can sell off prime public land on the seafront to private developers. Council is always selling off assets…no wonder it’s in deep financial trouble…austerity combined with poor financial management over decades