Death of this tragic pier is a disaster for Brighton

The Argus - Comment Thursday, 29 January, 2004

THE news that the West Pier in Brighton will not now be restored is little short of a disaster.

It has been let down by the Heritage Lottery Fund, which went back on its long-standing commitment to give at least £14 million to the restoration. The pier has been fatally damaged by arsonists who ensured any revival would be more of a rebuild than a restoration.

And it has been battered by the owners of the Palace Pier, the Noble Organisation, whose negative tactics have helped contribute to this outcome.

Just under a year ago, the Brighton West Pier Trust and commercial partners St Modwen had their scheme for restoring the pier passed by the city planning committee. Now, through no fault of their own, they cannot go ahead because funding has been withdrawn.

It is true that the pier is in a far worse state than it was in February 2003 when planning permission was agreed. But, only a month ago, the Government's conservation watchdog English Heritage backed the restoration despite the damage.

The West Pier is one of only two piers in Britain to have achieved Grade 1 listed status.

When then Prime Minister John Major launched the National Lottery, he specifically mentioned the West Pier as the kind of project on which funds should be spent.

Unfortunately, the Heritage Lottery Fund never allocated enough cash for the pier to be restored without a great deal of extra money from private sources.

Its parsimony meant an enabling development, disliked by many, had to be proposed in order to make restoration viable.

Its procrastination helped ensure private sector partners came and went while the project was delayed, year after year.

Now it has pulled the plug on the pier in the most shameful manner, giving no good reason for reneging on its commitment. As for the Palace Pier, its opposition has been opportunistic and misguided.

What now for the West Pier? It is almost 30 years since it closed and the chances of the trust finding another commercial partner is unlikely now the lottery cash has disappeared.

If it became a dangerous as well as derelict hulk, its demolition would cost at least £2 million, which would have to come somehow and somewhere from the public purse.

That would leave a gaping hole on Brighton seafront on a site where there has been a beautiful building for 138 years.

Now everyone concerned with building a better Brighton will have to get together to find imaginative and innovative ways of filling that great gap.