By Paul Healey
Permission to build a £5m spa resort with an outdoor swimming pool on Brighton seafront could be granted by the city council economic development and culture committee on June 21st.
The former ‘Peter Pan’s’ playground site, which is a few hundred yards east of the Palace pier, would be developed by the Karma Royal Group, the preferred bidder after an exhaustive tender process, into a new iconic attraction for local people and tourists.
The long-vacant site would be turned into the Brighton Bathing Pavilion which would feature five pavilions, an indoor and outdoor children’s club, a year-round spa and health centre, a beach club and restaurant, an outdoor swim and bathing area and a member’s club.
Chair of the committee Councillor Geoffrey Bowden said: “This would fit with our strategy to bring more life to the seafront east of the Palace Pier. It could be another asset in making the city a year-long, weather resistant attraction. It also reconnects us to our history as a spa resort 250 years ago.”
All zones apart from the member’s club will be open to the general public. Plans have detailed provision of a year-round, high-quality, inclusive and family-friendly facility to complement existing leisure attractions in the area.
Developers say the project is already fully-funded and requires no borrowing.
300 jobs would be created and a projected £10m injected into the local economy annually by the scheme.
The Karma Royal Group already owns and operates spas across the world and this will be their first in the UK. The architect for the two-storey building is Shoreham-based Liam Russell. It aims to be a zero carbon development generating its own power by sustainable means in a super-insulated building.
Subject to committee agreement to lease the site, planning permission will be needed and work could then begin as early as next year.
