Advisory services, Construction

Heritage restoration for a visitor attraction in Newhaven

Partner: Eastbourne & Lewes Council

Project value: £7.5m

Completion: February 2025

Rejuvenating one of the South Coast’s most important historic sites

Clear Futures has supported Lewes District Council in delivering a restoration project at the historic Newhaven Fort, which has seen it protected and upgraded to a more accessible, sustainable and dynamic visitor attraction.

154

year old site

12 month

project

Project scope

• Extensive repairs and restoration of the heritage fabric.
• Health & safety and environmental improvements.
• Visitor amenity & guest experience improvements.

Strategic support to boost tourism

Clear Futures provides strategic support to Eastbourne & Lewes Councils. One focus of our partnership is on developing sustainable tourism that will benefit the area over the long term.
Funded by UK Government, the grant funding secured by Lewes District Council, has delivered a transformational refurbishment to restore and enhance Newhaven Fort, which is a Scheduled Monument, so that it becomes a community asset and a key part of Newhaven’s future as a popular visitor destination. The project aims to attract visitors and enhance the visitor economy, strengthening the town’s position as a gateway to the South Downs National Park.

Saving heritage buildings

Described as the most important military structure on the Sussex coast, the fort had been closed for 12 months for the refurbishment, and the four guns facing out towards the sea had been out-of-bounds for four years. Some areas could not be accessed due to safety concerns, and there was a risk of losing some of the buildings entirely after exposure to severe weather.

Originally built in 1871, it operated as one of a series of coastal defences in both world wars, before becoming a visitor attraction in the 1980s. Today it is operated by Wave Active, who are custodians of the site, its buildings and its valuable collections, as well as provide learning experiences for schools.
This restoration has been vital to this historic site.

Delivered by local businesses

Eastbourne & Lewes Council’s partnership with Clear Futures gives them an approved, expertly managed local supply chain, allowing projects to progress quickly when the time is right.
For this project, local SME, HOP Consultants were onboarded to provide structural engineering services, bringing their expert knowledge and experience of heritage structures on the south coast.
The project was delivered on site by Pilbeam Construction, a local supplier who used local materials and their tried and tested local supply chain where possible.

Sustainability

The improvements at the Fort, such as the new visitor centre, exhibition space, escape room and passages, were upgraded with modern energy efficient equipment, significantly improving the sustainable credentials of this historic attraction.

Revitalised and reopened to visitors

The café, entrance, shop and office have been refurbished, and a new bespoke adventure play area installed, creating an attractive and welcoming environment for tourists and local visitors alike
Two gun emplacements, the battery command post, and the Romney hut have been refurbished, along with the ‘casemates’ – vaults underneath the ground – and exhibitions within them.

The gun emplacements had been closed in 2018 due to safety concerns, but can again be accessed by the public, allowing them to explore the lower end of the Fort. Open for the first time ever is the passage to the Battery Observation Post, which was used by officers to spot enemy targets and relay the information to the four gun positions.

Our Partnership with Lewes & Eastbourne Councils

Eastbourne & Lewes Council’s partnership with Clear Futures focuses on developing long-term sustainable outcomes for the area. To date, the partnership has centred around in-depth strategic support, including research into decarbonising the social housing stock and supporting the development of their Local Plan

wide angle photo of the downs looking down towards the town of eastbourne

Advisory services

Optimising Croydon’s asset portfolio

Partner: London Borough of Croydon

Completion: 2025

Clear Futures is working with the London Borough of Croydon, supporting their aim of reducing costs and generating capital receipts, focusing on statutory service requirements, and getting best value by aligning the location and function of the assets to the needs of the community.

Working in partnership, Clear Futures has lent its expertise to map 900 property assets with a value of around £900 million across the portfolio in support of the Corporate Asset Management Plan.

900 assets

mapped across the portfolio

100 assets

reviewed

Strategic services to support the Council

Our integrated multidisciplinary services have so far included asset review and assessment, development briefs, asset rationalisation, feasibility studies, implementing a digital decision-making tool to evaluate asset locations against demographic and other needs, and developing employer’s requirements and specialist design options.

Armed with this powerful data, we can work together in partnership to help the London Borough of Croydon to ensure its property assets support service delivery, enable regeneration and development, and generate income.

Specifically, Clear Futures is supporting Croydon’s vision that all assets are fit for purpose, cost effective and well utilised; sustainable and efficient; commercially managed; and easily accessible and multi-functional.

Our partnership with London Borough of Croydon

Clear Futures is working in partnership with the borough, starting the journey with an Asset Portfolio Optimisation review, so we can move forward to support their .

Find out more about the partnership

Overcoming funding challenges to provide for the SEN community

Advisory services, Construction, Education

Refurbishing 3 SEN schools in Liverpool

Partner: Liverpool City Council

Project value: £19m total project value

Completion: September 2023

Clear Futures and Liverpool Council have worked in partnership to refurbish SEN schools at pace to provide modern learning spaces for young people with special educational needs.

Challenge: maintaining essential SEN education

In 2023, it was identified that Liverpool’s SEN schools were in urgent need of refurbishment, with a shortfall in places available in the City. The Council faced a significant funding challenge if education for these children couldn’t be provided within the city by September 2023.

Fast tracking delivery of SEN schools for 2023

Clear Futures worked with the council’s education team to prioritise immediate needs and fast track the delivery of three SEN education projects.

At Millstead School, Clear Futures’ Tier 1 supply chain partner, Seddon Construction was quickly appointed, thanks to the Clear Futures strategic partnership that was already in place, to cost-effectively design and install temporary modular units to accommodate 40 extra pupils in September 2023, while fully redeveloping an existing mothballed building for a future intake of 72 pupils.

Image of interior of refurbished special educational needs school in Liverpool with toys and play items

Palmerston School has also been refurbished by Seddon to provide an initial 40 places for 14-to-19-year-olds, while a full redevelopment to accommodate a total of 60 pupils in the future, is carried out. Bank View South School, on the site of the former Parklands School has been refurbished by Robertson Construction to provide 60 places for 11-to-16-year-olds. Further works are planned to fully redevelop the school and accommodate 60 more places per year for a total capacity of 300 pupils

140

SEN school places

SEN schools refurbished

£25-30m

funding risk avoided

Outcome: major funding risk avoided

Delivering these three key projects means that SEN education and care is provided for children close to their homes, once phase 2 is complete.

As a result, we have mitigated a potential risk of financial penalties and cost for the travel, specialist teachers and carers and other expenses to provide education for these children outside of the city boundaries, that would have been Liverpool City Council’s responsibility.

Considered analysis and financial projections, in consultation with the council, calculated that £25-30m has been saved by providing these SEN places in Liverpool, compared with the cost of educating 110 SEN pupils for 5 years outwith the Borough, that would have been Liverpool City Council’s responsibility.

Long-term social impact

Clear Futures develops partnerships with purpose, focusing on long-term outcomes that drive real change in a community. As part of this, we have made a commitment to provide a one-to-one mentoring programme to change the lives of teenage girls who need support.

Mentoring programmes for girls in Liverpool

Upskilling the Liverpool supply chain

Tackling homelessness in Liverpool

In addition, we provided targeted activities and support in the local area, with a focus on developing the careers of young people in Liverpool, including:

£5,950

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

266 hours

EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS

98 weeks

WORK EXPERIENCE & APPRENTICESHIPS

Our strategic partnership with Liverpool

Clear Futures and Liverpool City Council began working together to deliver education projects at pace to provide modern learning spaces for local young people. As our partnership develops, we will explore opportunities to drive net zero action and provide strategic support to the Council to support local key priorities.

Learn more about our partnership

Grow-on space for NETPark’s science and tech entrepreneurs.

Advisory services, Commercial, Construction

Strategic Delivery for Durham’s NETPark Phase 3

Partner: Durham County Council

North East Technology Park (NETPark) is one of the UK’s top science, engineering and technology parks, supporting innovative and potentially high-growth STEM businesses on their journey from concept to commercialisation.

Current facilities are world-class and include two catapult centres and three national innovation centres. The Phase 3 development provides 433,800 sq ft of new space which is geared at existing and prospective tenants on the cusp of scaling up their operations.

By creating the right environment for growth businesses at NETPark, the Phase 3 development will deliver highly-skilled employment opportunities and attract inward investment to the area.

Durham County Council appointed Clear Futures as a strategic delivery partner to provide the expertise and additional resource needed to drive the project forward. Acting as project manager for the scheme, we turned the initial project strategy into a solid and successful business case for Business Durham and Durham County Council and have continued to support them through delivery.

Building occupant needs into the masterplan

Early in the project, we explored ways to build on the success of existing facilities on the science park, looking at everything from wellbeing and connectivity to delivery and distribution facilities. We engaged with tenants to hear first-hand their views on NETPark as a location for their business, their growth plans and need for space, and how that space should be configured. Creating a sustainable design within a healthy, sustainable environment was a clear priority.

The masterplan, designed by Ryder Architects, creates a holistic campus environment defined by high-quality, distinctive and flexible buildings set in a pedestrian-friendly parkland environment. Unit sizes vary and sit alongside a hub building, ancillary facilities, landscaping, sustainable drainage systems and parking.

NETPark building illustration — Image by Ryder Architecture

During design development, we worked with the council’s carbon and sustainability team to ensure the design proposals factor in net zero and BREEAM building standard ambitions and policy, with the expertise of T&T Carbon team.

Ongoing strategic support

Withi the project having been initially accessed through Durham County Council’s strategic partnership with Clear Futures, we supported them by procuringd the design team and leading design to RIBA stage 4. Thereafter Clear Futures provided cost management and project management services -acting as employers agent under the terms of an NEC3 contract – providing a valuable expert resource to Durham CC when they needed it.

Phase 3 gets planning permission

Getting the facts right to inform local plans.

Advisory services

Strategic support for Local Plans in Lewes and Eastbourne

Partner: Eastbourne and Lewes Councils

Lewes and Eastbourne Councils jointly commissioned Clear Futures in 2022 to support their plan-making process, which aims to meet the long-term development needs of residents and to deliver much needed new housing (including affordable housing), economic uses, infrastructure and renewable energy, in the right places, while protecting and enhancing sensitive landscapes and biodiversity.

Areas of expertise include: housing and development needs, housing and land supply, environment and sustainability, landscape and more.

technical studies

ongoing

programme

Clear Futures, through its Joint Venture Partner AECOM, has provided Local Plan support to the Councils through both technical experts and additional resources.

The Clear Futures’ expert technical team has enabled the Councils to accelerate and streamline plan-making, and has enabled efficient procurement of multi-disciplinary technical studies from one source, which could then been delivered at speed.

The evidence has been used in a total of 22 technical studies, to inform and underpin the respective draft local plan policies in the following areas.

Housing and development needs: Local Housing Needs Assessment, Economic Needs Assessments and Retail Needs Assessment, Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Study, and Newhaven Freight Study.
Housing land and supply: Housing Land Availability Assessment, Viability Assessment.
Environment and sustainability: Strategic Flood Risk Assessment, Water Cycle Study, Sustainability Assessment, Biodiversity and Geodiversity Assessment, Habitats Regulation Assessment, Climate adaptation and mitigation study, Building Energy Performance Study.
Landscape: Landscape Character and Sensitivity Assessments, Townscape and Tall Buildings Impact Study, Site-specific Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment.

Clear Futures also provided planning consultants to augment the Councils’ planning team during busy periods to support the plan-making process, working collaboratively alongside officers at the Councils on Local Plan preparation tasks. This includes providing specialist digital planning and GIS support, allowing the Council to digital capture and present spatial options.

Clear Futures can provide all types of planning services including planning and housing policy, strategic planning, development management, regeneration and digital planning.

Read more case studies

Related service – strategic support

Working with a long-term strategic partner that adds world-class, global consultancy expertise to your resource, as and when you need it.

Learn more about: Strategic Support

Building a prosperous future for Bolton through transformative town centre regeneration.

Advisory services, Regeneration

How we boosted Bolton’s levelling up ambitions

Partner: Bolton Council

Bolton, like many other towns across the UK, continues to face tough challenges. Despite this, the town remains resilient in its determination to drive positive change and create new opportunities for communities.

Bolton Council has ambitions to boost the town centre’s role as a key player in the Greater Manchester economy. This is coupled with a wider aspiration to attract more high-growth companies that will create the additional jobs, knowledge, skills and technology needed to compete in a global economy.

Background

In the year that followed central government’s launch of the £3.6 billion Towns Fund, the country faced a whole new set of challenges that few people could have predicted. Towns and their communities were at the forefront of the national response to COVID-19, showing great adaptability and resilience in the fight against the pandemic.

Central government wanted to kick-start the economy quickly, providing financial support through the Towns Fund. Such investment meant submitting a robust proposal, including: resilient town centre investment plans, heads of terms documents, detailed project business cases, outline designs, commercial investment models and benefits realisation plans.

Working in strategic partnership, Clear Futures brings the additional capabilities Bolton Council needs to secure funding and deliver schemes that underpin the town’s regeneration ambitions.

Contact Clear Futures for more on strategic partnerships.

Get in touch

Project outcomes

£22.9m

investment from the Towns Fund

regeneration projects supported

Challenge

Given the time constraints and resource challenge due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19, few local authorities had the capabilities to develop a strong proposal without some external support.

Through our strategic partnership, Bolton Council turned to Clear Futures. Working with the council’s regeneration team, we quickly and efficiently evaluated their needs, and engaged several specialist consultants to provide project management and quantity surveying expertise. We also boosted the capacity of the council’s team, bringing additional Clear Futures resource to drive through the complex programme and submit a strong and timely proposal to central government.

Outcome

Out of the 101 towns invited to submit proposals for part of the £3.6 billion Towns Fund, only 43 were successful – including Bolton who secured £22.9 million to invest in four key town centre regeneration schemes.

The success of the proposal results from the council and its partners engaging and collaborating with residents, MPs and private and public sector partners, and reinforces a collective ambition and commitment to regenerating Bolton’s town centre.

More from our partnership with Bolton Council

Clear Futures and Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council have been working in partnership since 2019 to boost the town centre’s role as a key player in the Greater Manchester economy.

See more about our partnership

A flagship restaurant for a prime seafront location

Advisory services, Construction

The Wish Tower Restaurant, Eastbourne

Partner: Eastbourne & Lewes Councils

Project value: £2.25m

The Wish Tower Restaurant replaces a former café and adjoining sun lounge on the seafront near Eastbourne Pier. Built in the early 1960s, the café had been a popular visitor attraction. However, through poor upkeep and its coastal environment, the structure fell into disrepair and was no longer fit for purpose.

The site needed a more sustainable building, and one which allowed the adjacent 19th century Wish Tower monument to remain the dominant structure.

In December 2017, and following insufficient progress from the council’s previous partner, Clear Futures was asked to take on the project development and delivery of a new seafront restaurant with an affordability cap of £2.25m. We conducted a due diligence review of the scope definition, design work, sufficiency of the cost analysis and identification of project risks and viable solutions. This allowed us to confirm the project parameters, and give the council confidence of a design and construction programme aligned to their timeframe and budget.

Following a rigorous supply chain selection process, we appointed a local Tier 1 supply chain construction partner who guaranteed to maximise use of local SME subcontractors and suppliers to deliver the project.

Wish Tower restaurant images courtesy of Sunninghill Construction Co Ltd

Completed in 2019, the new waterfront eatery is operated by Bistro Pierre. Designed with respect for the local heritage, the dramatic roof form makes a bold statement, while extensive use of glass provides transparency and spectacular seafront views. Complete with external decking areas, the development marks a fantastic improvement to the highly visible public realm and a reason in itself to visit Eastbourne.

The new build Wish Tower Restaurant is a great example of Eastbourne Borough Council using its land to create a visitor destination, and initiate employment opportunities and local economic activity in a sustainable way.

More case studies