What next for the West Pier?

Tuesday, 23 November, 2004

This is the question that everyone wants answered. So we wrote to Alan McCarthy, the Council's acting chief executive, to see how the Council views things at present. We asked some specific questions and got some fairly specific answers:

Q. Does the Council have any plans to make the Pier safe or demolish it?

A. The Pier belongs to the West Pier Trust and the Council will not press the issue so long as the Trust actively pursues restoration. If the Trust ceases to exist, legal advice would be sought on future responsibility and funding would be sought for "sensitive dismantling".

Q. What is the future for the decking at the landward end of the pier?

A. The future of this is bound up with the rest of the structure. The Council will work closely with interested parties on a solution.

Q. Does the Council have plans to improve the areas either side of the pier?

A. Yes - once it is definite that it is not needed as enabling development for the pier. Since the "Single Regeneration Budget" has now ended, the Council will need to find other funding for improvements.

Q. Will the Council need an enabling development on the site to fund the dismantling of the pier?

A. A development may be needed to fund the dismantling, and the improvements referred to in the previous question, but it would be of a much smaller scale than the (St Modwen) scheme which caused so many objections. It would be unlikely to be a "contentious" development. The controversy would no doubt be about the loss of the pier itself.

Q. Is there any chance of saving the very small pavilion still standing on the seaward end of the pier?

A. Council officers are contacting English Heritage and the Trust to see if it can be saved.