Edition No. 5

Thursday, 8 October 2026

10 stories

City at work

Seafront

Padel courts and a fitness venue could fill Black Rock for up to five years

Council officers want a padel, fitness and food venue as the stopgap use for the empty seafront site. Cabinet decides on Thursday 15 October.

Kemp TownA padel, fitness and food venue could open at Black Rock, the empty seafront site by Brighton Marina, on a lease of up to five years. Council officers have recommended the bid as the site’s “meanwhile use”, and the cabinet decides on Thursday 15 October.

The report was first covered by the Brighton Times. It describes the winning bid as “a temporary active leisure, sport and wellbeing destination incorporating padel, fitness, food and beverage facilities and mental health programming”. The…

City

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Housing

The Old Slipper Baths off North Road will become 11 flats for homeless people

The council owns the empty building in Barrack Yard and will let the flats at below-market rents to people waiting for a permanent home.

North LaineThe Old Slipper Baths in Barrack Yard, off North Road, will be turned into 11 flats for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Brighton & Hove City Council’s planning committee approved the plan on Wednesday 7 October, as first reported by Brighton and Hove News.

The council owns the building and made the application itself, and the flats will stay in its hands. They will go to people on the city’s housing register as temporary accommodation while they wait for a permanent home, at a below-market rent…

In brief

Culture

All culture

Heritage

Royal Pavilion Garden gets nearly £1.5m more to cover rising building costs

The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England have topped up the restoration. Work on site is due to start in November if the council's Cabinet agrees.

North LaineThe restoration of the Royal Pavilion Garden has more than £1.4 million in extra funding: £976,231 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and £500,000 from Historic England. Brighton & Hove Museums and Brighton & Hove City Council announced the money this week.

It is there to cover a gap. Building costs have climbed since the Heritage Fund’s original award of £4.3 million in January 2024, and the top-up lets the project, called A Garden Fit for a King, go ahead as first planned.

In brief

Food & Drink