£50m private cash hope for West Pier

Pier trust, English Heritage and council in new talks

Jan Melrose - The Argus Thursday, 6 January, 2005

A new £50 million West Pier could rise from its burnt-out remains in as little as two years.

Geoff Lockwood, chief executive of the West Pier Trust, which has campaigned to restore the crumbling structure for 11 years, was meeting English Heritage and Brighton and Hove City Council's leader and chief executive today to discuss the bold plans.

Battered by storm and ravaged by fire, hopes of restoring the Grade I listed structure to its 19th Century glory have been dwindling for some time.

The withdrawl of Heritage Lottery funding a year ago was thought to be the final nail in the coffin.

But the West Pier Trust has published proposals for a privately-funded pier furnished with remnants salvaged from the old pier, designed by Eugenius Birch in 1866.

Rebuilding would cost up to £50 million, 90 per cent of which would come from private funding. Dr Lockwood said: "We are meeting to get an agreed vision on the future of the pier so we can then go out to find funding.

"As everyone knows, there is not going to be any public funding so it's going to be a private sector deal.

"We have had some offers but if the council and English Heritage agree, we will put together a prospectus fairly quickly and see what interest there is. There is far too much support for the West Pier to see it disappear so there has to be a new one.

"This is our 11th year so we are always cautious.

"It is a strange feeling because most of us would still love to see the old West Pier restored but we are determined to at least maximise what we can from it."

Detailed plans have not yet been drawn up but a replica concert hall for tea dances, conferences, concerts and exhibitions is top of the list.

Kiosks dating from 1866, when the pier was built, would be taken out of storage and given pride of place on the new structure.

A heritage centre displaying the history of the West Pier is also planned. Samples of the original railings and serpent lamps would add the finishing touches.

Dr Lockwood said: "There is not much left of the old structure but one possibility is to treat it like an old abbey that has fallen down and try to keep something of the old structure while building round it.

"We are hoping we can have a slightly larger structure based in the sea to avoid having a huge land-based building like the one we were planning last time."

Sue Paskins, of Save Our Seafront, campaigned against proposals for a three-storey building stretching along the seafront which was thought to be the answer to saving the pier before lottery funding was withdrawn.

She said: "It would be lovely for Brighton and Hove to have two piers again.

"We mourn the loss of the West Pier but accept it has probably gone for good. A modern one which will reflect a lot of the grandeur would be rather nice as long as there are no three-storey buildings involved."

A council spokesman said: "We feel absolutely all viable options for the pier have been explored and that view has not changed.

"We are meeting the trust in a spirit of willingness to have one final, final look at it. But it would be wrong to get anyone's hopes up."