Victory for West Pier pressure

Voice of The Argus Monday, 22 December, 2003

WHAT a year it has been for the West Pier in Brighton, with two collapses and two serious fires.

The Grade 1 listed building is now a blight on Brighton seafront with burnt-out buildings and twisted metal.

But it is a tribute to architect Eugenius Birch that the Victorian structure is still there at all.

After the two fires, city councillors asked English Heritage whether the pier was worth restoring.

Even though they had granted permission for the scheme, they felt circumstances had changed so much a second look was needed.

Now English Heritage experts have come back and delivered an emphatic verdict. The pier must be saved.

To have decided otherwise would have been a victory for the anonymous arsonists and for those who are using all means possible to stop the restoration.

There was controversy over the scheme, mainly because of the shoreline development needed to make it viable.

But a democratic decision was made ten months ago to approve the plans and that should be allowed to stand.

This pier is one of the most beautiful ever designed and, when restored, it will be an asset to the city.

The fact that much of it will be reconstructed rather than renovated will not detract from its beauty, as the work at Uppark in West Sussex proved after it was almost totally destroyed by fire.