Residents are outraged at the prospect of a leisure centre coming to Benfield Valley, also known as the city’s “green lung”.
The land, near Old Shoreham Road in Hangleton, is used for cricket, football and dog walking by people in the area.
Land Registry records from May 1991 confirm a restrictive covenant on the land which could prohibit any development on the green space south of the Sainsbury’s superstore.
The green space south of the Sainsbury’s superstore is protected by a restrictive covenant from the 1990s (Image: Google Earth)
Sainsbury’s opened the store in October 1992 and 77 acres of land was given to Hove Borough Council with the restrictive covenant in place meaning that building on the land would require the supermarket giant’s approval.
In plans for a new leisure centre, the council has gone from a shortlist of 20 locations to just two, the Hangleton site and the existing King Alfred site on Hove seafront, which it fears will prove more costly to rebuild.
A spokesman told The Argus that it is taking legal advice and the covenant will be taken into account as part of its viability studies of the two sites.
Sainsbury’s told The Argus that the council has approached it about potentially building the leisure centre on the green space. A spokesman said a meeting will be held to discuss the council’s proposals.
Longstanding former city councillor Dawn Barnett, who represented Hangleton and Knoll for 23 years, said: “I reckon they want to sell the site for the King Alfred and put a block of flats that most people in the city cannot afford. It’s prime real estate.
“This covenant apparently protects this bit of land. This was left for residents of the city. They could never build anything on here. It is for outdoor use.”
Portslade Cricket Club currently play at the site and would have to move if the council does decide for the leisure centre to be in Hangleton (Image: The Argus)
Hangleton resident Allan Struthers said: “My main concern is the total lack of hard and fast information. We can’t even say what the pros and cons of having it are because we don’t know what they have in mind.
“They had 20 sites and have come down to two without consulting anyone. They have decided the journey we are going on already.
“We don’t even know how big the site is, we haven’t been consulted.”
The Argus understands that Portslade Cricket Club had a meeting with the council on Monday about plans for the leisure centre. The council would move the cricket club to nearby Greenleas Park.
The King Alfred in Kingsway which was first built in 1937 (Image: The Argus)
Juliet Fawcett, another resident, said: “This is widely used all the time, kids play football down here after school in the fresh air, in the winter people sledge down the hill. It is an active site, people come here for picnics and dog walking.”
Councillor Alan Robins, chairman of the council’s culture, heritage, sport, tourism and economic development committee, said: “We are aware of the covenant and are currently taking legal advice to inform our next steps.
“We are very concerned for the wellbeing of our residents and this will be a priority for us.
“Issues around the Benfield covenant will be taken into account as part of our viability studies into the two sites.”
The council said there have been three previous attempts to build on the existing King Alfred site and delivery will be “expensive”.
A spokesman also said that the land south of Sainsbury’s is the “only other available site in the west of the city”.
There is one more drop in consultation session where people can give their views. It is being held at Hangleton Community Centre in Harmsworth Crescent between 6pm and 8pm on Wednesday, January 31.
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