The project.
Fort Road Recreation ground in Newhaven is a well-used community site in Newhaven, with an on site nursery, a hall for community activities, a cricket pavilion and a toilet block which is famously known for being the ‘last toilet before France’.
This regeneration scheme was a refurbishment of all areas including Shakespeare Hall, the toilet block, cricket pavilion and the old outdoor play area. This scheme has allowed for the development of community space, allowing for more opportunity for children in the area to learn, play and explore their sporting abilities. Beyond the buildings themselves, the old play area has been reimagined into a community garden, which has been passed over to a local community group to utilise, to plant crops and flowers. Sunninghill went beyond the core contract to supply additional materials for the space, helping to encourage positive environmental changes.
Alongside the community garden, bird boxes have been added to the side of the buildings, supporting local wildlife directly, encouraging species back into a space that’s being upgraded for people at the same time.
Challenges
The scheme brings together several distinct elements, each with its own condition, requirements and stakeholders.
As with many refurbishments of older community buildings, asbestos was identified on site, requiring safe removal before works could progress on the affected areas. This caused some delay to the programme, which was an unavoidable consequence of working with older buildings. Our services ensured the resulting delay was properly recorded and costed, so the extra work didn’t disrupt the wider funding arrangements or leave the scheme exposed to unplanned costs further down the line.
Our Approach
b&m provided Quantity Surveying services throughout, keeping cost control tight across the multiple funding streams and the several buildings being worked on at once. Working alongside contractors Sunninghill and the architects and contract administrators, Kaner Olette, we have helped to keep the scheme on programme from site start in October 2025 through to practical completion in June 2026.
Impact
With a nursery already on-site, the wider ambition has gone beyond the refurbishment and has created a community hub, with education space, a sport space and toilets that are reliable.
The schemes environmental impact has been delivered well, with space to encourage wildlife into the space and increase biodiversity, which has altogether, left Fort Road a more usable, greener and better cared-for place than it found it.
At b&m we always want to help encourage the younger generation to improve their knowledge and skills within all areas of education, and this community areas enables them to do just that.
A special recognition goes to Levelling Up Funding, for providing partial funding for this project, and Lewes & Eastbourne Council. This space will help to educate the current and future generations beyond the restrictions they may face without this space.
