Developer unveils proposals for old bathing pool site

West Marina St Leonards Ltd, the consortium proposing to develop the site of the old bathing pool in West St Leonards, submitted its initial proposals to the public at two well attended consultation meetings last week. However, representatives of local community groups found that they fell short of their own expectations of how the site should be developed. Nick Terdre reports.

For several years unconfirmed reports on how the old bathing pool site on the sea front in West St Leonards might be developed have circulated, prompting the local community to take a close and involved interest in the matter.

Now West Marina St Leonards Ltd, a consortium made up of Generator Group and County Gate, have presented their initial ideas for developing the West Marina Quarter, as they have named it, in pre-planning public consultation sessions held in Electro Studios and Priory Meadow last week. The proposals are however not, HOT understands, set in stone, and could be modified or changed in light of the responses received.

The West Marina Quarter is an “exciting beach front project,” according to its dedicated website, which points out that in the local plan the site is allocated for residential-led mixed-use development,to deliver commercial, leisure and residential uses.

“We are committed to creating a sustainable, dynamic and thriving community that integrates housing, work, leisure and culture. The aspiration is to rejuvenate this brownfield site at the far western end of St Leonards seafront, transforming it into a vibrant hub that will benefit residents, visitors, and businesses,” it says.

Two options

The proposals consist of two options, the first for 118 residential units and the second for 151, reflecting the housing capacity designated in the current local plan and the new draft plan respectively. The draft plan may have come into effect by the time the joint venture submits its application, which, according to Paul Isaacs, one of their representatives who was present at the consultation sessions, is unlikely to happen this year.

Feedback on the proposals can also be submitted online, with a deadline of Friday 23 May.

The housing stock in Option 1 breaks down into 57 apartments, 37 cottages and 24 houses, while that in Option 2 consists of 98 apartments, 37 cottages and 16 houses. The houses are three storeys high, the cottages two storeys with a room in the roof, and the apartment blocks are up to four storeys high.

In both options the houses and cottages will have a parking space, and in Option 1 all the flats too, though in Option 2 some flats will lack this amenity.

The dwellings will incorporate sustainable technologies such as solar panels with battery storage and combined air source heat pumps cum ventilation units. Electric vehicle charging points will also be provided. The buildings will be robustly constructed to ensure longevity in the, at times, hostile environment beside the sea, according to the website.

The ground floor level has been set at a height which, according to modelling, will be above where any sea water flooding would be expected to reach. The developers’ plans in this respect were approved by the Environment Agency.

There will be a cultural area at the centre of the site, above the location of an underground Southern Water storm water tank, incorporating a playground, astroturf exercise area and a green space for public events such as performances or a market.

Further to the west and fronting the beach will be a centre for commercial activities including a cafe and toilet/shower facilities, and water sports and cycle hire outlets. Across the path/cycleway will be a slipway into the sea, assuming a feasibility study gives it the thumbs-up.

Twelve beach lodges  offering holiday accommodation will be located beside the path. The beach huts which occupy the top of the beach in this area will be moved to the east end of the site, placed in a single row.

Active interest

The local community has long taken an active interest in how the old bathing pool site is developed, and recently local groups West Marina Partnership, Save Our Bathing Pool Site (Sobs) and West St Leonards Neighbourhood Forum, together with the Hastings Urban Design Group, recently held their own meeting to promote their views.

They recalled that the site was originally bequeathed to the public for leisure purposes, although, as already noted, it is designated for development in the local plan. The council signed a development agreement with the developer in 2021 and last year signed off on a 250-year lease.

In 2019 Sobs submitted a petition with 3,277 signatures opposing leaked plans for a 152-dwelling high-rise development. The petition was rejected on technical grounds but shows the high degree of feeling and involvement in the fate of the bathing pool site.

However, the council has also talked of wanting to make the area a destination with attractions for visitors, a stance with which local groups agree, seeing it as a means of arriving at a balanced form of development. This would also help to counter the disregard shown to western areas of the town by the Town Board in its investment decisions.

For this reason they put great weight on developing cultural and leisure opportunities alongside residential facilities – visitors will not be flocking to enjoy a day out at a housing estate with minimal entertainment, in their view.

Their own ideas favour restricting housing to the western end of the area, if possible including the unused Ministry of Defence site alongside Cinque Ports Way, and dedicating the eastern end, where the swimming pool was located, to leisure and tourism as an extension of the promenade. There is also widespread support for incorporating a tidal swimming pool.

Any plan that involves digging up the old swimming pool runs into the problem of having to deal with the asbestos mixed in with the concrete, they say.

Strong reactions

Some strong reactions were aroused when they got their first view of the developer’s proposals at the Electro Studios. “The two options shown by the developers were both for high-density use of the site, effectively creating a seafront housing estate, with no regard for marine erosion or coastal flooding,” Bryan Fisher of the West Marina Partnership told HOT.

“The existing children’s playground would be built upon, and the developers are reliant upon Southern Water allowing them to use the surface above the holding tanks instead – which they will not allow.

“There is also inadequate provision for parking and no consideration as to how the local roads will cope with the extra traffic the estate attracts.

“To suggest the West Marina Partnership is disappointed is putting it mildly. The proposal makes no attempt to address the local community’s overwhelming desire for a leisure and tourism focus for the site. Rather it is a proposal built purely on greed. We actually witnessed people leaving the Electro Studio in tears!”

Virginia Vilela, also of the West Marina Partnership, said she found the developer representatives reluctant to answer questions, and added: “There is precious little green space and the leisure offering was practically non-existent, with a small area for a restaurant, water sports facilities and half a dozen ‘glamping’ huts.

“The playground was shown to be on the Southern Water tanks which according to their lease with HBC are only allowed to be ‘walked over’ with no structures to be built on them.

“It was difficult to work out the style of housing but it was advertised as three story cottages, 2-3 bedroom apartments which I think were in 4-storey blocks and other 2,3 and 4-bedroom houses.

“There was no indication of the style of the housing but they were largely in terraces.

“My fear still is that a proportion of them will be bought for second homes or AirBnB  and consequently be empty for perhaps six months of the year at least, leaving the area an urban wasteland for the rest of the time.

“We were certainly looking for this site to be developed as a vibrant social hub for West St Leonards with access to the beach, albeit with some housing.”

Blueprint West Marina

Working together, the West Marina Partnership and HUDG have attempted to show how the ambition for a destination could be realised as illustrated in the accompanying Blueprint West Marina. Here the housing is concentrated in several low-to-medium rise blocks marked (8) at the western end of the site, on top of one of which is an observation deck and rooftop garden (9). The ground-floor premises could be utilised for shops, a cafe, etc.

At the eastern end is an indoor sports centre (7) and over the site of the underground tank a pocket park (6). At its side is a community hub, housing say a branch library and cafe (12), and between that and the housing area, a plaza or town square (4). On the shore side of this is a maritime sports centre (13) and on the beach front a tidal pool (14).

At the far western end there are green spaces with opportunities for tree planting (1, 2), as there are in West Marina Gardens beyond the east end of the site, which is not included in this view. Housing  capacity could be increased by building a terrace of houses alongside West Marina Gardens.

There is some gap between the local community and developer proposals, but it will be interesting to see if this is reduced as the developer takes on board the responses to its consultation.

 

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