Brighton & Hove City Council
The sports facilities buildings in Brighton & Hove are popular and essential in providing opportunities for health, wellbeing and leisure activities.
However, the public sports centres and swimming pools provided within the city are showing their age and need to be improved. Old buildings are inefficient, expensive to run and maintain and often fail to meet modern demands. The facilities should be good quality, accessible and sustainable so more people can take part in sport and physical activity to benefit their physical and mental health.
The current portfolio of sports facilities are ageing and need improvement. The newest facility at Moulsecoomb was originally built 30 years ago in 1991, and the oldest, St Luke’s Swimming Pool dates back to the early 1900s. As well as struggling to cope with modern patterns of use, poor accessibility and design constraints, the associated upkeep and maintenance costs are high.
The range and choice of public sport and leisure facilities in the city is in need of modernisation and is failing to keep pace with facilities provided in neighbouring authorities and other towns. A new strategic citywide investment plan is needed to achieve sustainable revenue generation across the portfolio of sports facilities. This is also necessary to meet the long-term needs of the city and local communities to sustain and increase rates of participation.
To help re-assess and provide a new strategic vision for sports facilities in the city, FMG Consulting (FMG) were engaged to undertake comprehensive condition surveys of each facility to help review the overall costs of upkeep and lifecycle maintenance. In addition, this enabled a full understanding of the future liabilities of the sports facilities. This information was then used to create a high-level Investment Plan and future Management Options Appraisal.
The opportunities identified, and recommendations made within this Sports Facilities Investment Plan (SFIP) provides the council with outline costs of providing modern, attractive, cost effective facilities, which can better serve the sport and leisure needs of local residents, and increase activity levels and participation into the future.
This plan has been developed through a comprehensive process, including a strategic analysis and assessment of the need for indoor sports provision and the opportunities for improvement across the city.
In developing the plan the following have been considered:
Through the analysis, review and consultation process undertaken, a long-term strategic vision is recommended for the city which is a balanced model providing a range of opportunities and development options.
The resulting aim would see the creation of three modern large hub destination sports facilities which would support and be supplemented by improvements to smaller existing community facilities.
Residents and visitors should have access to outstanding sports facilities which support year-round healthy lifestyles and are designed to facilitate inclusion for all.
The council recognises the significant contribution that sport and physical activity make to the quality of life for residents and to the local economy. There is a growing awareness that the needs of the city are changing, and that the existing facilities are ageing. Any future investment should aim to provide social, economic and environmental outcomes. A low carbon approach to construction and operation will also be key in creating future sports facilities.
Creation of three large multi sports hub facilities to serve the city:
Additionally, maintain and invest in a small network of locally accessible community leisure centres to support the needs of residents.
Our principles for investment are to:
The investment proposals would see the city-wide provision of sporting facilities including large sports facilities known as hubs and community facilities.
Large sports facilities, known as Hubs:
Potential variants could also include an adventure zone like TAG Active, soft play or climbing (subject to site constraints and business case). The size equals approximately 9000 to 10000m2 excluding parking.
Existing facilities are a large gym, 2 x studios Interactive cycling studio Squash courts with club and bar area, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, athletics track, grass pitch for football and athletics, training rooms for hire, small multi use games area, leased areas including large climbing wall and sports injury clinics.
Potential variants could also include an adventure zone like TAG Active, soft play or climbing (subject to site constraints and business case). the size equals approximately 6000 to 7000m2 excluding parking.
Community facilities:
Our rational and level of financial investment are:
In Brighton & Hove:
How active Brighton & Hove residents are:
Why Brighton & Hove provide sport and leisure services:
Developing the Sports Facilities Infrastructure can have a strong influencing impact supporting the delivery of:
The council recognises the significant contribution that sport and physical activity makes to the quality of life for residents and to the local economy.
It is anticipated that future sport and leisure provision will:
There is clear evidence that the council’s corporate plans and strategies are strategically aligned with national priorities. These aim to support the delivery of solutions that will address issues affecting the city’s communities.
They include a focus on encouraging people to move more, promote their physical activity, improve nutrition and reduce the incidence of obesity, social isolation and financial impact on the NHS from chronic and preventable conditions through greater awareness and improved health education.
The council values the contribution that sport and physical activity makes to the city and has identified a number of sites in the City Plan and associated guidance to encourage the development of future sports provision.
The council’s City Plan Part One recognises that despite good progress made in recent years, sport and recreation facilities are still inadequate for a city of the size and regional importance of Brighton & Hove. By continuing to make investment in sports facilities according to identified local need, the council sends a very strong and positive message to all strategic partners that it is committed to supporting the shared vision for the city.
The following demonstrates how national strategies and the council’s local strategies, plans and objectives are linked and aligned.
The council works with, or supports, a wide range of indoor and outdoor sports facilities across the city. However, the scope of the SFIP was specifically limited to the 11 sites within the current indoor sports facilities portfolio (seven leisure centres and four paddling pools/water features) along with two school sports facilities owned by the council (Surrenden Pool and Longhill Sports Centre).
The Manor and Saltdean Lido were excluded from the review as they are leased facilities, albeit important to the local communities and city’s sport and leisure offer.
Since 2011, the council’s seven main public sports centres have been operated by Freedom Leisure – a not for profit Leisure Trust. This contract currently runs until the end of March 2024.
The council faces some significant challenges in terms of its current building assets with decisions required on the shape of future provision. Current facilities have already exceeded their projected lifespan.
The full stock condition surveys highlighted that:
To have a strong influence on activity levels in the city, effective investing in a portfolio of facilities is required. This will ensure that services remain accessible to all parts of the community which positively impacts on the health and wellbeing of residents and tackles health inequality.
Considering the poor condition of the facilities, user numbers indicate the centres are very popular - approximately 1.7 million visits per year. Participation and income levels, considering the limitations of the facilities, are good. This in part reflects the fact that demand in the city exceeds supply. Comparing financial performance with other local authority leisure centres. (Financial figures are compared in terms of the income in relation to the space in m2).
The council’s pools perform well, achieving more than 50% higher financial levels per m2 against a national performance range although there is pressure on the current amount of pool water available for public and club swimming.
The city’s key swim clubs do not feel that they have enough pool time for their swimmers to train and develop and use a variety of private facilities and pools outside Brighton and Hove. To achieve a balanced programme across the city with the number and type of water space available is a huge challenge.
Generally the council gyms perform well above the average performance range. There is additional demand which requires further investment to increase capacity and improve performance going forward.
The council’s Sports Halls perform above the financial benchmark range in most of the centres. In terms of overall income, the age and condition of the facilities and the type of offer affects overall performance. Withdean Sports Complex is the highest performing facility achieving significantly above the benchmark.
In terms of overall building efficiency, as expected the large wet sites of the King Alfred Leisure Centre and Prince Regent Swimming Complex are the most inefficient due to their age, poor overall condition and high utility and maintenance costs.
The King Alfred Leisure Centre and St Lukes Swimming Pool are the lowest performing facilities in terms of the financial return for the size of the facility.
The views of local people have been expressed through the council’s ‘Your Sport, Your Vision, Your City’ residents online survey 2020, and through various discussions with local stakeholders, sports clubs, national governing bodies of sport, and voluntary organisations and associations.
The key messages from the initial consultation were:
The online survey was available on Brighton & Hove City Council’s website. It ran for a total of nine weeks from Monday 16 November 2020 until Sunday 17 January 2021. A total of 1,474 valid responses were received.
There was overwhelming support to improve the facilities.
The data from the consultation also showed that:
1265 people (86.5%) said improving the current sports facilities in the city would make them go more frequently. 671 (47.4%) said improving the cleanliness of the facilities would help, whilst 620 (43.8%) mentioned improving maintenance.
607 people (42.9%) said improving the facilities for the type of activity or sport they're interested in would increase attendence. 542 (38.3%) would be tempted if there was an increase in the type of activities on offer.
518 people (36.6%) said that the cost of access to the facilities would have an impact on how regularly they would go.
359 respondents (25.4%) mentioned improved car parking facilities as a factor. 206 (14%) people said that changing the location of the facility, to make it easier to get to, would encourage them to use the facilities more.
Over 83% of respondees agreed with the statement that: “The council should replace some of the older sports facilities in the city with better designed, more modern, more efficient, new ones.”
34.2% of respondents wanted the council to keep the current facility and improve it. Most respondents (41%) wanted the council to provide a new facility in the existing location. 8% wanted a new facility in a new location. 11.6% did not express an opinion.
57.9% of respondents want the council to improve the facility but keep it in its current location. There was not much difference found between those respondents who wanted a new facility in the same location (10.2%) as opposed to those who wanted it in a different location (9.4%). 24.4% were not able to decide.
23.6% of respondents felt that the facility did not require large scale improvements, whilst 32.7% want the council to improve the facility.
25.9% of respondents wanted improvements to the facility. 60.5% of respondents didn’t express a view.
21.6% of respondents wanted the council to improve the current facility. 68% did not express a view.
Only 18.9% expressed the view that they wanted the council to keep the current facility and improve it. 69.7% did not express a view.
A relatively small number of respondents (18%) wanted the council to keep the facility and improve it. 68.5% did not express a view.
65.2% of respondents were happy to travel further for better facilities and activities, but the majority would prefer to travel no more than 20 minutes. 48% would travel 10 to 19 minutes to get to a good facility, 26% would travel 20 to 29 minutes.
66.7% of respondents agreed with: “The Council’s vision for three new large sports facilities serving different parts of the city supported by some of the current smaller community facilities”
The top priorities for a new sporting hub were:
The top priorities for a community sports facility were:
There were a wide variety of sports and activities mentioned in the ‘other’ responses some of which relate to the retention/improvement of existing facilities and others new sport or activity spaces. A number of these have been considered as part of the demand and supply analysis. Others will need to be reviewed as part of detailed feasibility and business case reviews.
The council has a role to play in reducing health inequalities and improving the infrastructure that enables further improvements to residents’ physical and mental health.
There are further opportunities to improve collaborative working with sports clubs and partners, the council and the Leisure Operator.
There is widespread support for a better standard of provision to support club development and improving the opportunities for hosting competitions, developing the city’s talent and promoting elite performance. This can be achieved through further investment into the stock of sports facilities in the city, with a mix of local and sport specific investment supplemented by the outdoor environment.
Residents and sporting clubs recognise that the current stock of provision is dated and requires improvement.
People are looking for a broader range of activity which takes place within their local area
An extensive analysis of current and future supply and demand for sports facilities in the city has been undertaken. This focused on both traditional and non-traditional forms of activity using a wide variety of data sets and sources of information.
The current demand for pool water in the city exceeds supply. Any closure or loss of a facility will result in a significant pressure on the remaining facilities for use for public and club swimming. A new competition sized swimming pool facility measuring 25m x 17m (8 lanes) is considered an essential element for any new provision within the city.
Demand and usage of sports halls is high and close to capacity. It will be important to ensure that any future investment at least maintains and potentially increases the number of publicly accessible sports halls within the city. Future access can also be supported through more formal community use agreements with the city’s schools.
The Local Football Facility Plan (February 2020) notes that the geographic spread of existing facilities in the city is uneven with the greatest gaps in provision in the west and northern areas of the city. The council’s facilities at Withdean, King Alfred and Moulsecoomb have all been identified as priority locations for some form of small sided provision. At King Alfred this would be linked to a future indoor football (Futsal) offer.
There are currently no purpose-built gymnastics facilities in Brighton & Hove. British Gymnastics (BG) is working with local clubs in Brighton & Hove to support grass roots development but it has not as yet identified a scheme that it may support through funding. Gymnastics is particularly popular with young people, especially young girls. In addition, regular research is undertaken into demand that shows a national waiting list of 1.5 million participants and an annual growth of 10% year on year in activity levels.
The council’s operator, Freedom Leisure, has indicated that there is potential for adding gymnastics provision within an existing centre to provide dedicated space to develop the gymnastics/trampoline offer to a wider market.
The market for health and fitness providers is highly competitive in and around the city. There is still evidence of the additional demand for fitness membership across the city which can be realised through further investment in council provision.
In response to changing patterns of use, flexible studio spaces offer a complementary option to traditional gym spaces and any future investment should seek to include these as part of future design proposals.
Withdean Sports Complex provides good facilities in the city for athletics although requires some improvements.
Existing facilities in the city are meeting demand. Given the overall income performance for squash there is slight overprovision based on the historical patterns of demand. There is an opportunity to rationalise provision for alternate uses.
The city’s indoor tennis facility at Withdean Sports Complex is well located and remains popular. The council has been moving away from direct provision for tennis and working towards establishing new management agreements with designated clubs.
The supply of artificial grass pitches is deemed sufficient to meet demand for hockey both now and in the future. This is based on the retention of the existing sand based facility at Stanley Deason Leisure Centre.
Basketball England identifies an existing shortfall of around 2 basketball courts necessary to meet forecast demand by 2029. It considers this can be achieved through suitable investment in additional sport hall space.
Since the indoor bowls facility at the King Alfred Leisure Centre closed, the users have relocated. With current levels of demand being met, there is an adequate supply to cater for the future levels of demand.
There is a total of 52 lanes within a 25-minute drive time and there is not sufficient additional demand to support further provision.
Ice rinks require more than 30% of the population to be aged under 24 years. Whilst the current population is marginally above this figure, they will make up a smaller proportion of the overall population in future years. Ice rinks have high operational costs and the energy footprint they generate through operations may be at odds with the city’s priorities around its climate agenda. The overall risk associated with provision is considered to be too high to outweigh any benefit.
The choice for indoor soft play facilities is limited across the city. Given the location of the existing soft play facilities there is potential unmet demand to come from those communities living to the north and west of the city centre. Finding suitable locations in these areas would therefore appear a viable solution.
There are currently three indoor climbing facilities located in the city offering broadly similar offers. To increase the levels of participation there is scope to add an innovative clip and climb offer to broaden the appeal for families.
The link between trampolining and gymnastics has been traditionally strong. It is suggested that the option for taking part in trampolining would continue as part of a modern structured gymnastics offer.
TAG Active is a relatively new product to the leisure market, aimed at getting people active through a non-traditional sporting activity. It is a multi level assault course designed to appeal to a wide age group and family market. However, the data indicates the usage is mainly in the evenings and weekends with minimal daytime usage.
Where it works best is by retrofitting poor performing sports spaces to create better revenue streams. In this way running costs are kept low with minimal additional staffing and savings in related utility costs.
The supply and demand assessment undertaken suggests that successful investment will require a combination of new build and refurbishment proposals. There is a long-held requirement to replace the ageing King Alfred Leisure Centre which is now overdue. In addition the Prince Regent Swimming Complex is now a dated facility with high upkeep costs which needs significant improvement.
There is therefore an opportunity to provide new sports facilities serving the East and West of the city, with the popular Withdean Sports Complex continuing to serve the North. These three facilities should be of a sufficiently large scale to provide a comprehensive sporting offer. Including (where land permits) new pool and sport hall facilities. Family friendly activities like soft play and adventure climbing could make up for current gaps in the market.
In terms of more local community sports facilities, general refurbishment programmes are recommended to upgrade and enhance the local offer. At Portslade Sports Centre, Moulsecoomb Community Leisure Centre and Stanley Deason Leisure Centre this can ensure that the local needs of residents can be better addressed. The need to retain St. Lukes Swimming Pool as a small community pool should be considered as part of wider proposals for the East Hub development.
As well as plans for investment, the council will continue to work with the universities and the network of schools and colleges, sports clubs and community centres to increase the availability of community access to sports facilities across the city.
Improved Sports Facilities through the implementation of the Sports Facilities Investment Plan can assist in: