Cabinet makes the final decision on the 25m Withdean pool on 10 December and will be asked to approve a bigger budget. It was costed at £6.8m last year.

The new community swimming pool at Withdean Sports Complex goes to a final decision at the council’s Cabinet on Thursday 10 December, and building it will cost more than planned. Brighton & Hove City Council said on Tuesday 27 October that Cabinet will be asked to consider a higher budget (council announcement, 27 October 2026).

The council blamed the rise in construction costs on the global economic crisis and conflict in the Middle East. It has not yet said what the new budget is.

When councillors granted planning permission in December 2025, the council put the project’s cost at £6.8 million (council announcement, 3 December 2025). It would be the first new publicly funded pool built in the city in around 40 years.

What has happened since planning permission

The council said:

  • the main building contract has been procured
  • work is under way to meet the planning conditions that have to be cleared before building starts
  • the changing village has been redesigned after residents’ feedback

The redesigned changing village now has:

  • family cubicles and communal cubicles
  • separate men’s and women’s cubicles
  • accessible facilities

Last year’s announcement said building work was due to start in the spring. That has not happened, and the council has given no new start date.

The pool

It would be a 25-metre, five-lane pool at the complex on Tongdean Lane, BN1 5JD. Freedom Leisure runs the complex for the council.

The money would come from section 106 payments made by developers, plus council borrowing. That is the same mix the council described last year.

The design includes roof solar panels, air source heat pumps and water-saving microfiltration. For access, it has a pool pod lift, walk-in steps, and an accessible changing area with a hoist (December 2025 announcement).

Councillor Alan Robins, Cabinet Member for Sports, Recreation and Libraries, called it “a once in a generation opportunity”.

Why the city wants it

The pool comes from the council’s Sports Facilities Investment Plan.

The council’s 2020 sports consultation found 85% of respondents named a new main swimming pool as their top priority for any new facility. The council also says Brighton & Hove has less water space per 1,000 people than its neighbouring areas, the South East or England as a whole.

The 2025 design consultation drew 942 responses to a four-week online survey. Hundreds more people came to drop-in events at the complex and at Westdene Library.

What it means for you

  • Nothing is being built yet. The final decision is on 10 December.
  • The figure to watch is the new budget. It will appear in the Cabinet report, which the council publishes about a week before the meeting on its Cabinet meeting page. We will report the number when it is published.
  • The meeting is public. Cabinet meets at 10.30am.

The pool is separate from the new King Alfred leisure centre in Hove.