THE £200 million King Alfred project is heading down the wrong road and needs to go back to the drawing board, heritage experts have warned.

Brighton Society chairman Jeremy Mustoe said it was time to reset the process on the Hove seafront redevelopment as proposals were already too high and set to go higher.

Conservative councillor Robert Nemeth warned that developer Crest Nicholson could now hold the council to "ransom" over the plans.

The warning comes after winning bidder Rob Starr revealed up to 80 more flats might be needed because of rising costs.

And Architect Nick Lomax, whose designs came second in the secretive bidding process, has told The Argus of his “deep frustration” that the winning bidders has been allowed to renegotiate their bid after the competition had closed.

Crest Nicholson and the Starr Trust were selected last year to deliver the redevelopment of the leisure centre.

Their plan included 560 homes at a maximum of 18 storeys but have now indicated they may need to sell more flats to fund the leisure centre and affordable housing.

A developers' agreement with the council establishing the scheme's terms was supposed to have been signed last summer but is still subject to ongoing discussions.

Mr Mustoe said the Brighton Society had major concerns about the height of the buildings and the level of affordable housing.

He said: “They need to reset the process again, it has tipped over the edge now.

“It was too big before but to have 80 extra flats, it will be far too large."

Mr Lomax said: “We did find it difficult to believe that Crest could deliver the scheme with less housing because we started the design process with less apartments but our development team could not make it work.

“If they change the rules at the end of the day that’s not a fair competition."

Cllr Nemeth, who was on the three-man King Alfred project board, said: "The current stage of the overall process is immensely frustrating in that the developer can effectively hold the council to ransom due to the way in which the competition was set up.

"I personally feel that there is too much wriggle room and hope that a way forward can be found quickly." Hove MP Peter Kyle warned further delays and a lack of compromise could kill the project.

Mr Kyle said that more "holistic and pragmatic" thinking might be necessary, including building affordable housing elsewhere to ensure that the number one priority of delivering a “world-class” leisure centre was achieved.

He said: “We are in danger of repeating the same mistakes again, you cannot have everything in a limited and relatively small site so either we compromise or we have nothing."

Meanwhile council leader Warren Morgan urged residents to be patient.

He said: “With the building industry facing big cost increases this is a hugely complex process and I can only ask residents to bear with us.

"The only way we can get a much-needed new sports centre is in partnership with a developer, and they need to make a profit from the housing to pay for it. ”

‘IT’S FAVOURING FOREIGN INVESTORS OVER THE LOCALS’

BACK in 2001 Tony Blair was securing a second term as Prime Minister, Shaggy was top of the charts and someone had the bright idea for a new leisure centre in Hove.

More than 15 years on, Tony Blair is a political pariah and Shaggy no longer rules the airwaves but the city is still crying out for a new leisure centre.

That initial idea saw developer Karis appointed in 2003 but it took four more years for the scheme to get planning consent before it all came crashing down in November 2008 when financial backers pulled out.

It would be another four years before the council would brave another attempt to replace the 80-year-old King Alfred.

In 2014, a list of 29 interested parties were whittled down to Bouygues Development and Crest Nicholson whose plans were pawed over by council officers, Deloitte consultants and a panel of three councillors behind closed doors.

In January 2016, the policy and resources committee followed that panel’s recommendation and selected Crest Nicholson and partners the Starr Trust.

Under the agreement the council will gain ownership of a £40 million sports centre paid for by 560 flats and an £8 million contribution from the council. The council is looking to recoup the outlay with operational savings of a modern centre compared with the current facility.

Councillor Robert Nemeth said the level of affordable housing on the site, at half of the council’s preferred level of 40 per cent, should be viewed in the context of the enormous size of the effectively £20 million section 106 contribution the developers are putting in to help make the scheme happen.

Like with any major development, time is of the essence and unfortunately the council has been slipping off its own deadlines.

A planning consultation was scheduled for June with an application to be submitted in early 2017 and decided this summer to allow work to begin, also this summer.

This would have allowed the new leisure centre to open in 2020, with Hove having to cope without a main sports centre for up to three years, and homes to be completed by 2022.

But the council is still to get Crest to sign a developers’ agreement which should have been agreed in May – ahead of the referendum result which is now said to be causing the proposals to be renegotiated.

Architect Nick Lomax said: “[The final bid] was a specific commitment but all the time that the developers’ agreement is not signed there is always room for manoeuvre.

“I always thought it was ambitious to have the developers’ agreement signed so soon after [the preferred bidder was selected] knowing how solicitors work but we shouldn’t still be talking about it now.”

For Hove MP Peter Kyle it was vital the scheme had no further delays.

He said: “What I want to do is get this off the drawing board and into the community without further delay.

“The clock has stopped ticking and the alarm has been ringing for a long time with this site.

“I am worried it is slipping off its deadlines because of the history of the site, my alarm bells are ringing on this because we can’t afford any more delays.”

Both bids were evaluated on five categories with the highest priority given to the leisure centre and the deliverability of the scheme.

The Argus has been told that Bouygues did not miss out simply because its building was higher or with more flats and it revealed its own doubts over the project’s deliverability.

Mr Lomax said the French construction firm would have been true to the word of its own bid.

He said: “The sad thing is that Bouygues would have stuck with what they bid, they have a reputation for every bid they have won, they have built it without any changes.”

There has been much criticism of the secretive nature of the “competitive dialogue procurement process” which meant taxpayers were unaware of the competing bids until one was selected.

The council said other options were “too restrictive” for such a complex project and their choice would help deliver better value for money by maintaining “competitive tension” during negotiations.

However with Crest chosen as the preferred bidder, Councillor Robert Nemeth said that advantage to the council was now lost and the power was in the developer’s hands.

Mr Kyle had fewer concerns about the current negotiation stage.

He said: “I don’t know of a single major development that hasn’t evolved and changed during the planning process and this is the most complex project this city has taken on for several generations.”

But for the Brighton Society, the plans need more than a little evolution – they need a complete rethink.

The society’s chairman Jeremy Mustoe said at potentially 20 storeys, the new King Alfred would tower above all other buildings along Hove seafront.

He believes the same amount of housing could be delivered with far less impact on the city’s historic seafront.

He said: “Parts of Hove are already among the most densely populated in the South East but the buildings are only five or six storeys.

“We showed with our own models for Anston House that it was possible to deliver the same amount of housing without going over 10 storeys.

“Developers know that if they build high, then foreign investors will pay a lot more for a flat at the top of a 20-storey tower, it’s a case of favouring foreign investors over local residents.”

Roger Hinton of the Regency Society raised concerns about Crest’s ability to deliver on their promises after the housebuilder had to go back to the council last month to renege on delivering affordable housing at its Davigdor Road site.

He said: “[The King Alfred project] was an awful mess last time and it will be a mess this time and if we are lucky we will get something that is OK.

“The council doesn’t have the money so they can’t call the shots.”

“Crest Nicholson now have a track record for getting their permission and then coming back and saying we can’t deliver our social housing.

THE LIST OF DEMANDS – AND WHAT’S ON OFFER

BRIGHTON and Hove City Council’s minimum specification for the redevelopment of the Hove seafront site included:

  • An eight-lane 25-metre competition pool, 200 spectator seats with 80 poolside competitor seats, 15m x 10m teaching pool, 300sqm under-eights leisure pool, a six-badminton-court size sports hall, an 18m x 12m multi-purpose room, a three-rink bowls hall, a 70-piece gym, a workout studio for classes up to 35, two consultation rooms, a car park of 180 spaces and 50 cycle spaces.
  • Developers were asked to meet or ideally exceed a minimum of 400 homes with 20 per cent affordable housing.

The council’s enhanced specification included:

  • An eight-lane 25-metre competition pool with moveable floor or a 50m swimming pool with diving facilities, 350 spectator seats with 100 poolside competitor seats, 20m x 10m teaching pool with moveable floor, a 400sqm under-eights leisure pool, an eight-badminton-court size sports hall, a 22m by 12m multi-purpose room, a six-rink bowls hall with a full range of associated club facilities, a 100-piece gym and separate 15-bike spinning room, workout studio for classes of up to 35, three consultation rooms, a gymnastics centre, a quiet activity studio for classes up to 12, an eight-person sauna suite, a cafe with space for 50 customers, a crèche for 15 under-fives, a soft play room, a dedicated martial arts dojo and a car park of 200 spaces with 50 cycle spaces.

Crest Nicholson’s winning offer proposes:

  • A 25-metre, eight-lane swimming pool with moveable floor and 352 spectator seats, a 20m by 10m teaching pool with moveable floor, a 400sqm leisure pool, a sports hall the size of eight badminton courts and multi-purpose hall, a 120 station gym, bike spinning room, workout studio, quiet activity studio and a sauna suite, gymnastics centre, a three-rink indoor bowls hall, a martial arts dojo, café, crèche and soft play room and a 200-space car park.

It initially proposed 560 flats in four main blocks with a maximum height of 18 storeys and 20 per cent of them affordable.