Investing in our city - what we want to deliver

Developing Brighton & Hove as a place where people want to live, work, and learn

We will celebrate our city and welcome external investment, including new employers that will create jobs for our residents. We will also work collaboratively with partners on support for innovation to allow existing businesses to scale and access funding opportunities.

Last year we began consulting on the key issues that our new City Plan to 2041 will seek to address. We will continue to work with residents, businesses and our partners to shape planning policy that enhances the city’s unique built and natural environment, and ensures accelerated housing delivery alongside, employment and infrastructure needs are met as the city grows.

We will continue to invest in our parks, allotments, sports and leisure facilities across the city. In July 2024 we took the decision to replace the King Alfred Leisure Centre and design a new, modern facility on the existing site. We will drive this work forward, sharing designs with the local community and centre users before submitting a planning application later in 2025.

We are proud of our city’s swimming offer and are investing to make our pools fit for the next generation. We plan to expand our swimming facilities to deliver the city’s first additional pool in forty years in Withdean. We will also start work on procuring a new leisure services management contract that is fit for the future. We will continue to deliver our Sports Facilities Investment Plan by improving sports facilities in the East of the city, and developing plans for a further swimming pool in Moulsecoomb.

We will implement our new ambitious playing pitch strategy and work to raise the profile of women’s sport in support of our goal to get people moving and remain one of the nation’s most active cities. In 2025, we join 8 cities across the country as hosts for the Women’s Rugby World Cup. This is a once in a generation opportunity to accelerate the growth of the game for women and girls and showcase Brighton & Hove as an international sporting city.

Growing a diverse and sustainable city economy

Devolution presents a significant opportunity to grow our city and regional economy. We will seek to maximise the opportunity of gaining devolved powers from central government and learn from established devolved areas. Greater Manchester, for example, is leveraging its autonomy to attract investment, talent, and innovation. This momentum has enabled the city-region to become one of Europe’s fastest-growing tech cities, achieve a projected 2.2% economic growth by 2027, outpacing London, and increase employment among 16 to 64 year-olds from 67.8% in 2022 to 71.4% in 2023.

We will deliver the commitments set out in the city’s Economic Plan working with our partners to stimulate sustainable economic growth across the city and city region. This includes our new city Economic Growth Board, ensuring the business voice is fully heard and engaged in council activity.

We will work with our fast-growing digital and tech sector, strengthen knowledge and innovation partnerships working with the city’s two universities, embed our circular economy route map to help create a more regenerative economy as we move towards Net Zero, and work with all our education partners and employers to develop a stronger and more inclusive labour market.

We will chair and work with regional partners on the Greater Brighton Economic Board for the coming year and with our wider devolution partners to grow the economy, including identifying and capitalising on the economic opportunities brought through devolution. We will work with the new Mayoral authority to develop and deliver a Growth Strategy for Sussex and Brighton. We will continue to grow and support Sussex Energy aligned to our net zero ambitions outlined below.

We will begin delivery of the priorities set out in the Visitor Economy Strategy for Growth collaborating with our private and public sector partners to raise the profile of Sussex and Brighton as a domestic and international visitor destination.

We will review our place brand and city narrative and ensure that our corporate brand recognises our internationally recognised identity as a vibrant and welcoming city, reflects the city's diverse communities and tells our story consistently.

We will continue to recognise the importance of the culture and creatives sector in growing our economy building on the uniqueness of the city as a world-leading creative destination. We will work in partnership, seeking opportunities to develop new infrastructure and workspaces that supports the whole industry and nurtures talent, ensuring the city retains its reputation as a centre of creative business.

Promoting and protecting what makes Brighton & Hove unique

Developing our strategic approach to the city’s night-time economy we will use the assets, planning tools and licensing policies in our gift to achieve positive change.

We will work to build on the strength of the city’s successful Business Improvement District to attract visitors to our city centre and to our smaller independent retailers.

Protecting our seafront heritage is one of the central ambitions of our new Seafront Development Board, which will shape our vision for the 13km of coastline and encourage further investment. As well as ongoing major regeneration projects, such as Maderia Terraces, we will continue to develop innovative solutions to invest in and restore our listed Victorian seafront railing, heritage lanterns, shelters and benches. We will continue to invest in future proofing the shoreline and surrounding area from erosion and flooding, upgrading sea defences and stabilising our shingle beaches.

We will bring forward new plans to improve and develop the Brighton Centre and Brighton Town Hall, preserving our heritage while ensuring our key civic spaces are reflective of our needs and fit for the future.

Developing talent and enabling lifelong learning

To secure the long-term future of the city’s libraries we will develop a Library Sustainability Plan to ensure a thriving provision of services for residents across the city. Plans include focussing our investment and revenue spend on libraries serving areas of most need, promoting Libraries Extra, which enables customers to access libraries when they are unstaffed, and extending our wide range of online services, with free access to e-books and e-audio.

Jubilee Library is one of our greatest community assets in the heart of the city. To support our ambition to bring several services together, the Adult Education Hub will relocate to the library. With £3.1 million awarded by central government, we will also deliver new Skills Bootcamps at the library. These will be free sector-specific courses for people aged 19 or older. The courses run for up to 16 weeks and give participants the opportunity to develop their skills with a fast-track to an interview with a local employer.