Residents were invited to have their say on the new leisure facility during a six-week consultation, with many also attending drop-in sessions to speak to council officers about the site options and proposals.
The current King Alfred site on Hove seafront, which opened in 1939, is nearing the end of its useful life and is in constant need of repair.
Two sites are being considered for a new leisure centre – the current King Alfred site and land to the south of West Hove Sainsbury’s car park at the junction of Old Shoreham Road and the A293.
Each site offers the potential for a state-of-the-art leisure centre, complete with 25-metre competition swimming pool and separate learner pool, sports hall, health and fitness facilities, including gym and cycling studio, group exercise space and a cafe.
The proposals for each site differ due to size, cost, building considerations and constraints. Wherever the centre is built, the specification is dependent on selling some, or all of, the current King Alfred site for a “residential-led development” to pay for the new facility.
Councillor Alan Robins, chairman of Brighton and Hove City Council’s culture, heritage, sports, tourism and economic development committee, said: “We’d like to thank all those residents, sports club members, community groups and other organisations in the city who have shared their views with us over the last few weeks.
“The huge response to the questionnaire shows us how much local people want to be involved in planning for a new leisure centre and we will continue to update residents as our plans progress.
“We will be taking all comments on board as we move forward to the next stage and work with independent experts to develop an exciting, modern and sustainable leisure centre we can all be proud of.
“After several failed attempts to re-develop the King Alfred, we now have ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to finally make this happen.”
The final decision will be taken to the council’s culture, heritage, sports, tourism and economic development committee in the summer, with on-site work expected to begin in 2025.
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