Brighton's Royal Pavilion Gardens 'not safe' at night

Brighton and Hove Museums, the trust that manages Pavilion Gardens, is working on improvements to the gardens to protect the “jewel in Brighton’s crown”.

It is hoped that new plans will address concerns around safety, antisocial behaviour and litter at the gardens, which have been described as a "crime spot".

Shaun Doyle, who has worked as a duty security manager at the Pavilion for 25 years, said that the gardens have a “dual personality”.

He said: “During the day, we have families playing and children enjoying the gardens, but at night it becomes a place where it's not safe to be.”

Hundreds of people gathered at the gardens to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee

Some 130 crimes have been reported in the gardens in the space of just ten months between April 2021 and February 2022, with a third of those reported being crimes of violence, including assaults, robberies and sexual offences.

Hedley Swain, chief executive of Brighton and Hove Museums, said that the park becomes a “different place at night”.

He said the trust has been forced to spend tens of thousands of pounds on extra security and cleaning staff.

Mr Swain added: “We are a charitable trust and every single penny we have to spend on that is a penny we cannot spend on making the museums and the Pavilion better for people.

“What we have here is a very sad list of crimes, particularly crimes against women, in these gardens at night. 

“As the chief executive, I don’t think I could look myself in the mirror if I didn’t do anything to prevent crimes against women in central Brighton, so we need to find solutions.”

Head gardener Rob Boyle told The Argus that he “sees the hangover every morning” and is forced to clear broken bottles and needles from the night before to protect children who visit the park.

He said: “Every morning I see broken glass, cans and we have young parents that come in to use the gardens in the morning - it’s not a good mix.

“We find needles on quite a regular basis. We have children that meander into some of the flowerbeds and there is a quite dangerous conflict there.

“That could be helped to be resolved if we could control the people here at night.”

The gardens could be fenced off and closed at night to the public as soon as 2024 in plans currently under consultation

Proposals to improve safety at the gardens include closing off the gardens at night, with a consultation underway to discuss options with the local community, as well as tourists and people who choose not to visit the park.

An open day for the consultation is due to take place in October, with other proposed changes including widening footpaths and improved planting.

Mr Boyle said that the gardens had been “a victim of its own success”, with high footfall causing parts of the grass to be used as an extension to a footpath, resulting in bald patches.

“I can repair that, but that would have to be done every year - so one idea we are looking at is widening the footpath a little bit to help deal with the footfall. It would also mean we’re not doing as much expensive repair work in the gardens.”

The Grade II listed gardens, one of the only Regency gardens in the world, was placed on the Heritage England “At Risk Register” in 2017.

Mr Swain said: “We’ve got this incredibly important historic site right in the centre of Brighton, which is both brilliant - because we get the footfall, but we also get the associated challenges of being in the city centre.

“We all have a responsibility to hand on the Royal Pavilion and the gardens in as best a state as we possibly can.”