As You Were at Azur
HUGH SULLIVAN
Repair works “remain under way” at the Azur Marina Pavilion, according to head lessee Sea Change Sussex. Drainage problems are said to have been largely resolved through repairs to pipes; the restoration of mains power in conjunction with UK Power Networks has been “complicated by the involvement of cables serving several nearby properties”.
The venue has been closed since previous leaseholders departed in January, and although the agents Fleurets have marked it on their website as “Sold subject to contract”, Sea Change continues to deny that any offer has been accepted from a chosen operator.
Hastings Borough Council, though it owns the freehold of the property and has been involved in the repair work, has no active involvement in marketing the property and will not vet prospective buyers or tenants, leaving that process to Sea Change. A council spokesperson said it will require information that shows the underlessee is able to perform the financial and other obligations set out in the lease.
The financial performance of previous underlessees suggests that process has not been robustly performed in the past: all three companies – Lightening Leisure Ltd, Azur Marina Ltd and Azur Events Ltd each controlled by David Thorpe-Tracey – successively collapsed into insolvency over a 13-year period.
The council could also have a more direct influence on the current behaviour of Sea Change by restoring a representative as director on the company’s board – a right they have under its constitution. Between 2011 and 2022 successive council leaders, Peter Chowney, Kim Forward and Paul Barnett took up this role. Cllr Barnett resigned in March 2022 without replacement.
A motion to appoint Green Party councillor Darren Mackenzie to the Sea Change board as the council’s representative was due for discussion in cabinet this week.
The council could also affect future leasehold occupation by more rigorous licensing of the premises and active scrutiny of its effects. Local community groups benefited from Mr Thorpe-Tracey’s open door policy in recent years, but neighbouring residents have complained that, under his successive regimes, a high level of anti-social behaviour fuelled by alcohol and drug abuse by customers was tolerated. Will a new owner change Azur’s profile?
Meanwhile a fresh lease of the Sussex Exchange hospitality centre on Queensway, which was trading as a cinema, conference centre and restaurant until its operators went bust in July, is now being actively negotiated. A spokesperson for Sea Change, also the head lessee of this property, announced last week that an offer had been accepted, though it has so far declined to identify the prospective new operator.
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