Member Article

Proposals unveiled for £10m investment to restore Brighton’s seafront

Brighton & Hove Council has revealed proposals to rebuild the city’s seafront at West Street made possible by a £10m investment.

The council, which has secured £9m to undertake the work, was one of only relatively few institutions to win funding from the government’s Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund as part of the Seafront Investment Programme.

The scheme will rebuild the historic Shelter Hall to become a flagship commercial location, creating a new walkway on the beach, enlarging the upper prom area and building new public toilets on the seafront.

Preparatory work has begun on realignment of the lower promenade opposite the bottom of West Street. Construction is planned to start in October.

As the work progresses, one lane of the westbound carriageway will be shut for a distance of about 50metres either side of the bottom of West Street. The junction will include a filter for right turns into West Street.

Due to the age of the structure and complexity of the construction, the closure is expected to be in place from 2016 for two and a half years.

Councillor Gill Mitchell, chair of the city’s environment and transport committee, said: “We have a once in a generation opportunity to do this work and we are fortunate to have secured funding to completely rebuild a section of the seafront highway, provide a new sea wall and reconstruct an historic building.

“This is the first stage of our investment into the seafront’s infrastructure which is urgently in need of restoration and regeneration. The project is not only essential for the seafront, but will protect the A259 for the next 150 years. If we don’t do it now we risk the road becoming unusable and being closed entirely.

“This autumn we will bring forward more solutions to save our seafront as we put together a practical programme to regenerate the city’s jewel in the crown.”

James Stevens, Head of UK Development at Standard Life Investments, project partner for the Waterfront Project, said: “Standard Life Investments welcomes the council’s proposals to rebuild Shelter Hall and reconfigure the junction above. This project supports two of the city’s most important assets; the seafront and the transport network.

“Making the city as easy to move around as possible is as important as protecting the seafront and the existing infrastructure. It’s great to see this confidence in the city and we’re sure it will help to encourage other investors to get started on their own projects.”

Brighton & Hove City Council is contributing nearly £1.7 million towards the scheme from Local Transport Plan funding. The project will be overseen by the team which created the award-winning seafront arches restoration near the i360 development.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .