Party leaders give their views on our seafront

The Argus is right – our seafront is a defining and essential part of our city and its economy. It is our biggest attraction, our shop window, our greatest asset and for many, like me, somewhere that holds a lifetime of memories. Now we must secure and invest in its future.

Over the past two centuries it has changed, been added to and declined. Building the Brighton Centre in the 1970s was an investment by the council in our local economy that has paid dividends. Losing the Black Rock swimming pool and the West Pier were tragedies.

When last in office Labour invested millions in regenerating the seafront between the piers, and had ambitions to do more. Over the past three years I’ve been working on plans for a new leisure centre at the King Alfred, a new arena and conference centre at Black Rock, and a major redevelopment of the Brighton Centre and Kingswest site that will extend Churchill Square to the seafront.

A council administration under my leadership will deliver these projects on time and in budget to secure our economy for generations to come.

We need a co-ordinated traffic and transport system than can bring tourists and shoppers into the city. We don’t need the costly Green and Conservative-backed Valley Gardens scheme as currently set out; any changes to the area between St Peters and the pier must enhance and improve that area to the benefit of the seafront. We will review the Green Party plans, backed by the Tories, that spell gridlock and road misery for five years.

We will need Government support, Local Enterprise Partnership funding, private sector investment, City Region backing, European Union money and more to achieve all this, and to invest the £100 million needed to underpin the Kings Road/A259 and seafront arches. We need to invest in Madeira Drive and save the terraces, and work to ensure the i360 delivers a return on the £36million gamble of taxpayer money by the Greens and Conservatives. A Labour council will work hard every day to achieve these goals and more.

I’ve pledged that Labour will deliver a city that works for you; nowhere is that pledge more important than with our seafront.

Geoffrey Theobald, opposition leader of the Conservative Group on Brighton and Hove City Council

The seafront is Brighton and Hove’s shop window. It is the main reason that so many of the eight million tourists come to our city every year and spend their money in our local shops, restaurants, pubs and other attractions.

It is no exaggeration to say that to neglect its upkeep now would be to put at risk everything that the city has achieved in recent times.

The warning signs are already there and becoming increasingly conspicuous – the recent collapse of the arches under the West Street/A259 junction and the closure of Madeira Terrace to name just two examples.

The recent Scrutiny Panel report by the Council estimated that around £100 million of investment is needed in order to safeguard our most precious asset. That is a huge amount of money that the Council will not be able to find on its own.

But the situation is not all doom and gloom. The Council recently won £9 million from the Conservative-led Government to restore the derelict Victorian Shelter Hall which supports the promenade opposite West Street.

The Council is also now adopting a much more proactive approach to attracting private finance which will make a significant contribution to the funding gap – an approach that we fully support.

The i360 observation tower – opportunistically opposed by the Labour Group – will open in the summer of 2016 and will bring in well over £1 million a year to the Council through ticket sales, business rates and interest on the Council’s loan. The proposal to build a brand new conference centre at Black Rock will similarly bring in a significant income stream.

I am confident that closer partnership working with our neighbouring councils through the Local Enterprise Partnership and the Greater Brighton Economic Board will also help us to attract more central Government funding.

Regenerating the seafront will be one of the biggest challenges that the Council faces over the next ten years but with positive and creative thinking it is a challenge that we can meet.

Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty, Green election spokesman and planning committee chairman on Brighton and Hove City Council

ELEVEN million visitors came to the city last year and the Office for National Statistics describes us as the nation’s favourite seaside resort.

A vibrant seafront and getting people to come and stay are critically important as up to £1 billion comes from tourists and business visitors. Under our watch the total number of nights spent in the city by visitors has grown by 7.5%. With the Greens in the town hall, £7 million has already been invested in the seafront infrastructure, to help re-build our seafront after decades of underinvestment. A further £9 million is coming from the Department for Transport for regeneration of the West Street seafront, offering a great new business location and new public toilets.

Twenty-five arches have already been rebuilt and small retailers opened. A further 33 are being rebuilt by the i360 – a small example of our commitment to the growth of small businesses.

Is it any wonder we are now the fourth city in the UK for small business start-ups?

The seafront is central to building a resilient local economy and the Local Government Chronicle recognised our commitment with their ‘Driving Growth’ award a few weeks ago.

At the Marina, much-needed new homes are now being built and we will appoint a developer for the King Alfred site by the autumn. This could be an incredibly exciting time for Hove’s seafront.

The Greens were delighted to have got our £540million proposals for the Waterfront adopted in December. This would completely regenerate the Brighton Centre and Black Rock seafronts and bring 2,000 new jobs and a brilliant new venue to the city.

This vision matches our hard work on the ground in the last four years to build a better Brighton and Hove with the regeneration of New England House, building of the new Sussex Innovation Centre at Brighton station and Circus Street.

We are central to discussions with neighbouring councils winning the vital investment in our infrastructure and seafront. We have secured substantial extra investment in the ‘Greater Brighton’ area which includes Lewes, Newhaven, Shoreham and Worthing through the government’s ‘City Deal’ scheme.

Seafront 2020 – our vision

1) Develop a five-year plan for our seafronts which includes economic, structural and leisure visions for the future.

2) Vigorously preserve natural habitats, beaches and green spaces.

3) Promote strong political leadership and cross-party co-operation across the region. There should be no self-interest or borders when discussing the future of our communities.

4) Protect traditional seafront industries, tourism, ports and fishing but encourage new creative digital activity.

5) Protect iconic landmarks and heritage but encourage fresh thinking that will transform our sight lines.

6) Encourage a new range of private/public partnerships to fund developments to ease the strain on the public purse.

7) Support new bodies to bring co-operative and visionary proposals for the entire coastal region and encourage those bodies to work with full transparency and include all sections of the community in decision making.

8) Make transport infrastructure a priority. A range of regional proposals must be at the centre of any Seafront 2020 debate.

9) Develop a powerful lobbying voice at Westminster to push our case for investment as one of the powerhouse economic regions of the UK.

10) Involve all sections of our community in developing policies for Seafront 2020. The future of health services, housing and jobs should all be included.