A RENOWNED architect has called for Volk's Electric Railway to be removed from Brighton beach to save the “bleak” seafront.

Nick Lomax, who worked on Brighton and Hove’s Jubilee Library, wants the heritage railway to be moved as he feels it creates a barrier between Madeira Drive and the beach.

The director of LCE Architects in Brighton told The Argus that relocating Volk’s Railway would open up the beach area and stimulate development.

The 61-year-old said: “From an urban planning point of view Volk’s Railway makes no sense.

“It does nothing for that part of the beach. I would prefer to see it relocated.”

Mr Lomax’s comments came ahead of a public meeting last night (JAN 6), hosted by the Regency Society, about the future of Brighton and Hove’s seafront as a whole.

His other visions for the seafront include a raised monorail, developing the western lawns between the King Alfred leisure centre and Portslade, and "reimagining" the West Pier.

He said: “The whole seafront naturally divides into a number of sections. Each section has its problems and therefore its solutions.

“I would maintain it is the Volk’s Railway that has prevented the development of that part of the seafront. What else could it be?

“You can’t put it in the air [like with a monorail] – I don’t see it working.

“It’s uncomfortable and slow. I don’t have any great love for it, I have to say.”

Mr Lomax said in The Argus yesterday that “if you look along from Black Rock it’s a pretty bleak picture”.

Ian Gledhill, chairman of the Volk’s Electric Railway Association, said: “The charm of it is that it’s a delightful ride along the seafront. If you put it anywhere else it would just be a funfair ride. It’s a historic monument.

“There are 13 crossing places on the railway so you don’t have to walk too far to get to the beach. I don’t see it as a problem. Where would you relocate too?"

He said an elevated monorail would “ruin the historic nature of the seafront”.

Mr Gledhill added: “We have just been awarded £1.6 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund and if we moved the railway we would have to give that back.”

Meanwhile the city council's seafront masterplan is yet to be revealed.

Alan Robins, a Brighton and Hove councillor for leisure and tourism, added: “Rather than being a hindrance, I think it’s fantastic.

“I honestly don’t like the idea of it not being there. I can’t imagine that area without it.

“And with things like this, once they’ve gone, they are gone for good.

“It’s great that we get these opinions. It’s good that people are interested enough to be bothered about it.

“I can understand the thinking but for me it’s about evolution, not revolution.”

ABOUT NICK LOMAX

The Argus: Architect Nick Lomax

NICK LOMAX is a founding member of LCE Architects in Brighton, which formed in 1990.

With 30 years’ experience in a senior position, he was involved in the Jubilee development and library in Brighton and the Wigan Life Centre, a modern leisure facility. Both were funded through a private finance initiative.

Overseas his work includes the expansive Esplanada dos Ministerios in Brasil and the futuristic Prince Sultan Cultural Centre in Saudi Arabia.

He is also a member of the management board of the South East Centre for the Built Environment.

THE UPS AND DOWNS OF VOLK'S RAILWAY

The Argus: Ian Gledhill, chairman of the Volk's Electric Railway Association, pictured right on one of the cars.  Picture: Tony Wood

VOLK’S Railway is the world’s oldest operating electric railway, having opened in 1883.

Even since Magnus Volk conceived the idea, it has attracted opponents and seen ups and downs.

Ian Gledhill, chairman of the Volk’s Electric Railway Association (VERA), said: “People have always said it would be a barrier between the road and the seafront ever since the railway was proposed.”

In the 1930s, each end of the line was cut back by 200 yards and in the 1940s it closed altogether because of the Second World War.

After resuming in 1948, it became summer-only, with winter operation stopping in 1954.

Mr Gledhill said: “Somebody wanted to put the railway in one of Brighton’s parks in the mid-1970s and that never came to anything.”

VERA was formed in 1995 to help promote and run the service.

In 2014, the railway was awarded £1.6 million by the Heritage Lottery Fund to spend on a new visitor centre and ticket office.

Despite this, Volk’s Railway is not listed.

Mr Gledhill added: “In San Francisco, its trams are a protected national monument of the US because they are the last remaining cable cars in the world. Here, we cannot list anything that moves.”

In defence of Volk’s Railway over a seafront monorail, he cited a failed monorail in the Darling Harbour in Sydney, Australia, which opened in 1988 but closed in 2013.

  • Do you have an attachment to the railway? Or do you agree with the architect? Email adrian.imms@theargus.co.uk and leave your contact details.