Brighton and Hove Council Cabinet to Choose Preferred Bidder for Black Rock Seafront Site on 15 October
Black Rock Station on the Volk's Electric Railway, Brighton, in May 2010
Brighton & Hove City Council's Cabinet will meet on Thursday 15 October 2026 to decide who should run a temporary attraction on the long-empty Black Rock site on the eastern seafront. The council's report, published for the meeting, recommends a preferred bidder and a reserve bidder for a lease of up to five years.
The council says the temporary use is the first phase of a two-stage plan for the site. The second is a long-term redevelopment that the council hopes will become a landmark coastal destination focused on culture, leisure and recreation.
Source: Brighton & Hove City Council Cabinet report, Black Rock Future Vision and Meanwhile Use, agenda item 58, 15 October 2026
What Cabinet is being asked to decide
The item is called Black Rock Future Vision and Meanwhile Use, and it is agenda item 58 on the Cabinet agenda. The council has marked it a key decision because it involves expenditure or savings above £1,000,000. The meeting is at 10.30am in the Council Chamber at Hove Town Hall, and the affected ward is Kemptown.
The report asks Cabinet to:
- note and endorse the Black Rock Future Vision, and approve the council's phased approach to activating the site and regenerating it over the long term
- approve Bidder 1 as preferred bidder for the temporary use, "subject to satisfactory completion of due diligence and the negotiation of acceptable commercial, legal and operational terms"
- approve Bidder 2 as reserve bidder, in case satisfactory terms cannot be agreed with Bidder 1
- delegate authority to the Corporate Director, City Operations, in consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member, to carry out due diligence, agree the heads of terms and sign the lease and related legal documents
- agree the conditions that any lease should include (see below)
The full report is on the council's democracy website. The council also lists a separate exempt Part Two report on the same item, which is not public.
The site and the work already done
The report describes Black Rock as a prominent site on the eastern seafront between Brighton Marina, Madeira Drive and neighbouring communities including Whitehawk and Kemptown. It calls it one of the city's most strategically important regeneration opportunities and one of its most significant strategic assets.
The council says it has invested approximately £18m in enabling works to prepare the site and improve the wider eastern seafront. The report lists:
- land remediation and levelling
- utility diversions
- a realigned and extended sea wall and improved coastal defences
- the 800m seafront boardwalk
- improved pedestrian and cycle connections to Brighton Marina
- refurbishment of the Volk's Electric Railway station and public toilets
The site falls within City Plan Part One Policy DA2, which the report says allocates it for leisure and recreation-led development. In December 2022 the council's Policy & Resources Committee agreed to produce a development brief for Black Rock and approved the use of the site for meanwhile uses and entertainment space. The council's Black Rock page describes the earlier phase of works, including the boardwalk between Volk's Station at Black Rock and Volk's Workshops at Duke's Mound.
The four bids
The council ran an expressions of interest process for the temporary use and received four submissions. The public report calls them Bidder 1 to Bidder 4 to protect the council's commercial position during negotiations. The identities, scoring detail and financial offers are in the exempt Part Two report.
| Bid | What it proposes | Officers' assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Bidder 1 (recommended as preferred bidder) | A temporary active leisure, sport and wellbeing destination with padel, fitness, food and beverage facilities and mental health programming. It offers a fixed annual rent and needs no council capital contribution. | Highest scoring. Officers say it offers the strongest overall combination of deliverability, financial return and community benefit. |
| Bidder 2 (recommended as reserve bidder) | A cultural, leisure and placemaking destination with a public beach hub, community facilities, food and beverage uses and event space. | Second highest. Officers cite significant operator experience and a substantial level of proposed private investment, but a lower and less certain financial return. |
| Bidder 3 | An active leisure offer. | Officers call it credible and deliverable with positive community benefits, but say it had a narrower range of economic and community impacts and a lower financial return. |
| Bidder 4 | A broader regeneration vision based on long-term occupation rather than a temporary use. | Not directly comparable with the current process. Officers say it would need separate strategic, legal, property, procurement and financial consideration if the council explores longer-term redevelopment. |
The submissions were assessed against published criteria and weightings:
| Criterion | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Operational plan and provider history | 40% |
| Local economic impact | 20% |
| Rent offer | 40% |
The report says the three criteria were applied to all four submissions, and that Bidders 1 and 2 most closely matched the aims of the temporary use.
The preferred proposal
The council describes Bidder 1's proposal as a temporary active leisure, sport and wellbeing destination. Its report says the proposal is expected to produce a fixed annual rental income over five years and needs no council capital investment. It says the proposal would also put mental health at the centre of its operating model.
The report says the social value case includes prevention and early intervention, reducing barriers to taking part, regular opportunities for social connection, local employment, volunteering, coaching, training and work experience, partnerships with schools, colleges, community groups and health organisations, and activity for residents who face financial, social or health-related barriers. It says these potential benefits must be turned into specific, costed and deliverable commitments through due diligence and the heads of terms.
The site plan attached to the report as Appendix 1 shows an aerial view of Black Rock marked up with covered padel, outdoor padel, a fitness studio, a spa, a club patio, a bar patio, a bar and cafe, toilets and changing rooms. The report does not say which bid the layout belongs to.
The report concludes that this bid delivers the highest guaranteed rental income to the council, and says officers will seek an agreed social value framework before the lease is completed. That framework would cover baseline information, target groups, measurable outputs and outcomes, delivery partners and reporting. Where achievable, it would include affordable or free access and participation by under-represented groups.
What any lease would have to include
The report says any lease should:
- be limited to a maximum five-year term
- contain appropriate break and termination provisions
- require tenant infrastructure to be removed at the end of the lease
- require the site to be returned in a condition substantially equivalent to its condition immediately before occupation, at the operator's expense, unless the council agrees otherwise
- include agreed social value commitments and monitoring arrangements
In its property section the report adds that the lease should preserve the council's vacant possession, avoid delay or extra cost to future redevelopment, control permanent works and changes of use, and protect against security of tenure where legally appropriate. It notes that the proposals involve varying levels of temporary, modular and relocatable infrastructure.
The council says it can grant the lease under section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972, and that because this is a lease of council-owned land rather than a public contract, no contract award notice is required.
The longer-term vision
The report says the council's long-term vision is to transform the site over time into a landmark coastal destination focused on culture, leisure and recreation, supported by complementary commercial, environmental and community uses. It says a central ambition is a nationally and internationally recognised cultural destination, including a major visual arts offer.
The report says the council and its partners have begun exploring opportunities with gallery operators and cultural organisations, alongside higher education institutions, museums, creative industry partners and potential investors. Funding routes under early discussion include Arts Council England programmes, National Lottery funding, philanthropic giving, sponsorship, commercial investment and central government support.
The council stresses that the form, scale, deliverability and funding of any permanent cultural offer remain subject to further feasibility work, partnership development, business case preparation and future decisions. It says the temporary use must not create an expectation of permanent occupation or limit those decisions.
The approach follows the council's Seafront Prospectus, published on 5 June 2026, which we covered in our report on the seafront transformation plans. The report says the prospectus identifies Black Rock as a key investment opportunity and sets out the same two-stage approach, but does not prescribe a fixed scheme.
What the report says about money
The public report does not give a rent figure. It says the recommended proposal is expected to generate a fixed annual rental income over five years and needs no council capital investment, and that the rent, payment profile and responsibilities for site preparation, utilities, maintenance, insurance, business rates, reinstatement and handback depend on due diligence and the heads of terms.
It says financial due diligence will look at the operator's financial standing, how deliverable its investment is, and any security, guarantee or rent deposit requirements. Because of the timing of any agreement, the report says it is unlikely that income will be received in 2026/27. If it is, it will contribute to the council's in-year financial position.
The commercial detail is in the exempt Part Two report. The council lists that item as exempt under category 3 and does not publish it.
Engagement, risks and next steps
The report says further engagement will take place with ward councillors, local stakeholders, statutory consultees and council services through planning, licensing and operational approval processes. It says this will include early discussion with neighbouring communities, including Whitehawk and East Brighton, and with organisations working in physical activity, mental health, youth provision, disability and inclusion.
The report names these principal risks: delivery, commercial and financial, planning and statutory approvals, reinstatement and end-of-term obligations, operational management, reputational and strategic opportunity. It says they will be managed through due diligence, contractual protections, financial assessment and governance arrangements before any agreement is completed.
On equalities, the report says officers will seek accessibility, inclusion and community benefit commitments through the heads of terms, with particular attention to disabled residents and visitors. On sustainability, it says carbon impacts and sustainable travel will be reviewed through detailed design, planning and due diligence.
What the report does not say
The council's public report does not say:
- who Bidder 1 or Bidder 2 are
- how much rent is being offered
- when work on the temporary use could begin or when it could open
- whether planning permission or other approvals have been applied for
- when the long-term redevelopment might start
Cabinet approval would not complete the deal. The report says the lease is subject to satisfactory due diligence and agreed terms. ImJustBrighton will update this article after the meeting if the council confirms Cabinet's decision.
Sources and further reading
- Cabinet report: Black Rock Future Vision and Meanwhile Use (agenda item 58, 15 October 2026)
- Appendix 1: Black Rock site plan
- Cabinet agenda and reports pack, 15 October 2026
- Council agenda item 58 page
- Council decision record: Development Brief for Black Rock (1 December 2022)
- Council: Our plans for Black Rock
This article is based on the Brighton & Hove City Council Cabinet report and appendix for 15 October 2026 and the council's Black Rock web pages. For more from the area, see Kemptown and seafront coverage on ImJustBrighton, and for more council news, see Brighton & Hove City Council news.
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