News RSS Feed Send your news, pictures & videos


Dreams of Brighton ice-rink replaced by coach park

10:20am Thursday 10th March 2011 in News By Tim Ridgway

...to this ...to this

This was to be the site for a £70 million international arena.

But now council chiefs have confirmed the derelict seafront site will have an alternative use a car park for coaches ferrying tourists to the city by the sea.

It is a long way from much-awaited plans to transform Black Rock, Brighton into an 11,000-seat concert hall, with two ice ricks, shops and restaurants.

As developers continue to search for funds, Brighton and Hove City Council believe it would be better to use it as a temporary place for coaches to park.

In submitting a planning application for the changes, bosses admitted the development is “at least two years away”.

But opposition councillors have questioned just how “temporary” the plans, which are thought to cost about £100,000, will be.

A council spokesman said: “The planning committee will look carefully at it and make its own decision weighing the importance of coach travel to the city’s tourism scene. “It would be a temporary permission as the site is earmarked for the indoor arena and ice rink.”

Comments(29)

chroma says...
11:07am Thu 10 Mar 11

Surely not the end of big ideas for a near bankrupt city council? The idea of their ever being an ice rink here is as far fetched as the concept of an honest politican.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

chipmunk77 says...
11:17am Thu 10 Mar 11

Now this is a perfect place for the squatting gardeners to turn into a "community" garden?

How about it, oh no, it's too far for then to cycle from lectures and the dole office.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Mr Pickwick says...
11:19am Thu 10 Mar 11

Sensible use of the derelict space before something permanent happens to it. Like a good hotel that makes money.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Saulgone Petetong says...
11:36am Thu 10 Mar 11

So it transpires it is an issue with developers scrathing around for funds - sounds like a feasible option as the existing coach parking facilities are located within that vacinity already.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Yofi42 says...
11:48am Thu 10 Mar 11

The entire marina is a complete disaster.
The so-called shopping centre is depressing to walk through.
The whole thing should be pulled down and rebuilt into a large shopping mall similar to Blue Water which could include a theatre, cinemas, restaurants etc.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Lady Smith says...
11:58am Thu 10 Mar 11

I don't know whose 'dream' this was, but they must have been a few sandwiches short of a picnic. Where is the hard evidence that there was a need for an 11,000-seater concert hall and TWO ice rinks? There wasn't enough demand to keep the small rink in Queens Square open - and that was centrally located. Yofi42 is right: the entire Marina 'complex' is an embarrassing eyesore. I've seen marinas all around the world and not one has, as its centrepiece, a budget supermarket! It is a hostile, dreary environment and I can imagine the only reason people go there is because the parking is free.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Scoomer says...
12:12pm Thu 10 Mar 11

"two ice ricks"? Are they like hay ricks? I'm not surprised the plans didn't come to fruition - the ice would fall out.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

BriCo says...
12:24pm Thu 10 Mar 11

Community garden + demonstration site for the BNP etc - you can demonstrate here or free or you pay all police fees if you want to march through the town centre.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

LohnJennon says...
12:46pm Thu 10 Mar 11

Yofi42 wrote:
The entire marina is a complete disaster.
The so-called shopping centre is depressing to walk through.
The whole thing should be pulled down and rebuilt into a large shopping mall similar to Blue Water which could include a theatre, cinemas, restaurants etc.
Oh yes, just what Brighton needs - a second vile shopping mall to complement The Churchill Square Hive Of Desperation and Misery.

That'd be lovely. I'd go all the time. Every day, in fact.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

pee35jay says...
1:35pm Thu 10 Mar 11

at least the coaches won't be clogging Roedean Road up and coach drivers finding they have golf balls through the windows. Bet the council wil charge the coaches a mint through.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

sussexladybabe says...
1:52pm Thu 10 Mar 11

How about a mini Nuremberg type rally center for Labour supporters. Put all the rotten eggs in one basket or basket cases!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

censored says...
2:11pm Thu 10 Mar 11

"car park for coaches ferrying tourists to the city by the sea"

I'd have thought coaches mostly bring them by road, don't they?

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

dhamallamafarmer says...
2:16pm Thu 10 Mar 11

Children's play area? scented garden,? recreation area? outdoor exhibition space? Zen garden? five a side pitches? Nah, sod that, stick a coach park in there, it's not like there's enough space on Madeira Drive is it?

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Granny says...
2:38pm Thu 10 Mar 11

Isn't this just typical of this rotten city. We wait years for a new ice rink and now it is to be a coach park for visiting trippers. What makes the council think we will be getting any visitors when we have so few attractions for them?

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

rayellerton says...
2:46pm Thu 10 Mar 11

The old Queens Square rink was too small for anything other than leisure skating, a full size rink and arena has been promised for Brighton since the very successful Sports Stadium was demolished as part of the original Churchill Square redevelopment in the 60's. A purpose built arena would be multi purpose and have the capacity for ice hockey, ice shows, boxing, wrestling, basketball, indoor football and many other sports and also could be used for conferences and live music gigs...i wouldnt say that would lead to it being an under used white elephant..

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

madridred says...
4:00pm Thu 10 Mar 11

Maybe incorporating an ice-rink into that multi-million pound stadium out at Falmer would have been a good idea...

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

steveP2009 says...
4:08pm Thu 10 Mar 11

I'd love to have a good ice rink in Brighton...something else to do at the weekend instead of going to the pub!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Morpheus says...
4:08pm Thu 10 Mar 11

Lady Smith wrote:
I don't know whose 'dream' this was, but they must have been a few sandwiches short of a picnic. Where is the hard evidence that there was a need for an 11,000-seater concert hall and TWO ice rinks? There wasn't enough demand to keep the small rink in Queens Square open - and that was centrally located. Yofi42 is right: the entire Marina 'complex' is an embarrassing eyesore. I've seen marinas all around the world and not one has, as its centrepiece, a budget supermarket! It is a hostile, dreary environment and I can imagine the only reason people go there is because the parking is free.
Good comment.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Reporter1 says...
5:03pm Thu 10 Mar 11

The existing car park at Black Rock is usually full of Travellers caravans. This will give them even more space. That should help business at the marina.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Hove Actually says...
6:25pm Thu 10 Mar 11

Oh my God you can see this coach park from the top of the "Brighton i360"
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

security words
Brewery-Pissup

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Camel54 says...
6:32pm Thu 10 Mar 11

A nice barrio for all the soon-to-be-homeless?
I say dynamite the sea walls of the awful Marina and let the friendly sea back in.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

D Merrett says...
7:49pm Thu 10 Mar 11

Brighton has so much to offer visitors. High parking charges, derelict sea front attractions like Black Rock and West Pier. Great sea-front memories which we celebrate like the Athena B running aground. A marina which never quite made it in a commercial sense. Hey but we did achieve one thing. We built a ring road to allow people to get out of the town quickly once they realised that modern Brighton was stuck in a design rut. Thank goodness for the Victorians their legacy is all that has saved Brighton.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

cob says...
8:33pm Thu 10 Mar 11

They killed the old ice rink in West Street off when I was in my youth. Will I ever see a replacement before I die?

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

old brightonian says...
12:04am Fri 11 Mar 11

....... and the promised replacement for the Black Rock swimming pool? Remember? There is no point reminding the people who voted for the forty year sequence of fine and most upstanding council members of a deal once made; some thought with sincerity
There is no point in continually regurgitating the past glory that once was Brighton. We, who spent our formative years in Brighton before, during and for the following twenty years after World War 2, are still grateful for the splendid environment that Brighton and Hove and Woodingdean and Rottingdean and Ovingdean and Saltdean and Portslade and the great boroughs of Fishwick and Shoreham, afforded us and of course the heritage of the South Downs and the sea. These local communities, as a result of necessities created by the war, pulled together and endeavoured to maintain the facilities and standards that previous economies had enabled. We had hopes of a better future for the community and for the individual.
Face it ! Adios to the ice arena concept. Maybe the Travellers will no longer infest that tribute to club cricket, Braypool, now that one of their site options may be upgraded. Are the council going to provide lighting, toilets, showers and laundry facilities for them at the coach park? Probably more chance of that happening than than allowing the ice rink plans to proceed. One also has to worry about the reasons why developers seem averse to invest now even though development costs should be lower. Oh, I forget, apologies, the costs of the ever increasing minimum standards required by the EU and of that genuine concern for public safety and control by the Nanny State. There remain, of course, another couple of factors ...... most developers generally aren't stupid and certainly won't want to invest in what could easily become a white elephant and that chip on the shoulder nature of a segment of the Brighton public that resents the fact that someone may actually 'make a buck' if community funds are involved. Maybe Brighton is fickle and really doesn't need anything? Does the council have a stategy and vision? Does anybody? Public toilets were removed because of abuse and other unsavory aspects. Does this reflect on the true nature of the town?
Do the facts that Brightonians can walk along one of the best and longest promenades in the world, breathing clean air, watching all the amateur sporting activities in excellent parks, hiking on the Downs, using the beach, swimming in the sea all for no charge and then .... there is the weather ....... hmmm but, ray of hope, the climate may get better. Brightonians may have a deep-seated reluctance to actually pay for recreational facilities demanded by the few.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Stu says...
12:29am Fri 11 Mar 11

So does this mean that they will remove the current coach parking spaces next to the Volks Railway station at Dukes Mound and replace it with pay and display car parking spaces?

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

John60 says...
8:44am Fri 11 Mar 11

I still don't underdstand how the council got away with demolising the art deco lido that once stood there all those years ago and there's been nothing to replace it ever since. That whole area is a disgrace and the Marina looks disgusting with nothing much in it. It could be so much more but it isn't, everything in Brighton is crippled by a rubbish council filled with out of date ideas by equally out of date council people. I wonder how many back handers are given in order for some of these schemes to go through.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

jh315 says...
12:52pm Fri 11 Mar 11

Not a massive loss really. Brighton definatley needs an Icerink -there are other options. What about Brighton Astoria?

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

John60 says...
3:18pm Fri 11 Mar 11

The Brighton Astoria should be turned back into a one screen cinema/concert venue. It's a disgrace that all the beautiful cinemas in Brighton have been demolished, leaving the souless Odeon and Cineworld as the only ones. Duke of Yorks is ok but it's a bit out of the way from the centre and was known as the flea pit many years ago.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

SeaSalt says...
3:26pm Sun 20 Mar 11

A coach park at Black Rock makes good sense. It's a tourist town and we have attractions for that reason. It may sound like a boring use for the space, but the coaches need to go somewhere.

There isn't enough space at Madeira Drive during peak periods as residents in East Brighton will testify. Black Rock would cope and could offer proper facilities too.

There's little sense in building more attractions without the infrastructure to handle the tourist trade we already have.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

More News stories

Local Businesses

Most popular