Climbing wall planned for Brighton sports centre

A climbing wall is being planned for the Withdean Sports Complex in Brighton.

The £250,000 would be built and run by climbing wall operator High Sports on one of the three courts in the indoor tennis centre.

High Sports, which runs 20 climbing walls around the country including one at the K2 sports centre in Crawley, hopes to begin work in November and open to climbers in January.

It expects to attract about 50,000 people a year to the wall compared with the 7,200 tennis players using the court that would be built over.

High Sports would work with Freedom Leisure, which runs Withdean on behalf of Brighton and Hove City Council. The two organisations already work together at K2.

The council’s Economic Development and Culture Committee will decide whether to approve the proposal at Hove Town Hall tomorrow afternoon (Thursday 19 September).

If they do, High Sports, which was set in 1994, is expected to be granted a 15-year lease. Freedom Leisure runs sports facilities across Brighton and Hove on behalf of the council on a ten-year contract which started in April 2011.

The indoor tennis centre was built in 1991 with funding from the Lawn Tennis Association.

A condition of the funding was that the centre had to be used exclusively for tennis for 21 years.

The condition expired last November and council officials said that an indoor climbing wall would be a good use of the space.

The remaining two courts would still be used for tennis although a report to councillors said that some courses may have to be merged. To read the report click here.

When the council put together its ten-year Indoor Sports Facilities Plan last year it noted the strong demand for a climbing wall locally.

Many climbers from Brighton and Hove currently travel to Crawley, Guildford and London for indoor walls.

The council said that it had consulted Withdean customers and others about the proposal and had received a positive response, with 536 people – or 67 per cent – in favour out 795.

The report to councillors about the Withdean proposal said: “The complex is currently undergoing major capital improvement schemes to extend the health and fitness, changing and reception facilities and to replace the athletics track.

“There are no suitable alternative council sports facilities which have the available space to install a major climbing facility.

“There have been a number of previous attempts by climbing groups to establish such a facility in the city but without success.

“This has been due primarily to the lack of facilities within which to build a suitably sized climbing wall.

“The proposals provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the sports facilities at Withdean Sports Complex and increase participation and healthy living among residents of Brighton and Hove.”

Councillors are asked to support the proposal at the meeting tomorrow which is open to the public.