Seafront sports area will honour memory of Brighton teenager Connor Saunders

A seafront sports area is to be built in Rottingdean in memory of Brighton teenager Connor Saunders.

Connor, 19, from Woodingdean, died after being punched during a fight in West Street, Rottingdean, last year.

The sports area – to be known as Connor’s Court – will be built on a concreted area along the Undercliff Walk on the site of the old swimming pool.

The pool was opened in 1935, damaged by storms in 1990 and filled with concrete in 1994.

Connor Saunders

Plans to turn it into a “multi-use games area” were approved by the Brighton and Hove City Council Planning Committee at Hove Town Hall last week.

The area will be used for games such as basketball, football and cricket, with fencing or barriers to shield pedestrians using the promenade.

Connor’s mum Darran said: “This is such a positive way to remember Connor.”

The £70,000 project will be funded by the PARC children’s charity in Rottingdean.

PARC (Play Area in Rottingdean Committee) was set up in 1995 and provides recreational activities for children and young people in Rottingdean and Saltdean.

The charity has spent more than £350,000 in the past six years funding two new play areas and a skateboard park and renovating another play area. It has also supported youth work in the area.

Cathy Taylor, manager of the PARC shop in Rottingdean, said: “We’re still fundraising (for Connor’s Court).

“We’ve got a shop in High Street opposite the White Horse and you can also donate via the Connor Saunders Foundation www.connors5.com.”

The aim is for work to start in March and to be completed within weeks. Mrs Saunders said: “Connor’s 21st birthday would have been on 25 March. We want it open for then.”