Owners call for tower to save pier

Karen Hoy - The Argus Thursday, 6 April, 2006

Owners of the West Pier in Brighton say the rusting remains of the beleaguered landmark could rise again - if people back plans for a 600ft seafront tower.

They are convinced the latest scheme to save the pier, by inviting the team behind the London Eye to build a sky-rise observation tower to help fund it, would not fall foul of previous objections which included protests over the loss of sea views.

Architects David Marks and Julia Barfield unveiled their plans for their Brighton i360 tower, nicknamed the Brighton Eye by locals, last week.

A pod carrying up to 100 people would rise silently up the tower every 20 or 30 minutes to provide amazing views, 600ft above ground.

But, crucially, the latest proposed seafront development would be only four metres wide.

The West Pier Trust hopes the people of Brighton and Hove will fall in love with the tower in the same way they love the battered West Pier, despite its latest sorry state.

Geoff Lockwood, chief executive of the trust, said: "Having worked here for 45 years, I think I'm familiar with the planning problems within Brighton and Hove.

"All the objections previously have been about the development of the promenade or blocking the view on the promenade and that does not apply to the Eye."

Mr Lockwood believes the tower, or a "vertical pier" as he calls it, is the answer to the restoration of the original pier.

He said: "The vertical pier will generate an income to the trust which will ensure we will be able to tidy up the pier but it wouldn't be sufficient to finance the whole restoration of the pier. The Brighton Eye is the first stage of such a scheme - a development in which the new vertical pier will complement the reconstructed horizontal pier.

"The two elements have much in common," he added. "Both are designed by visionaries possessing solid practical track records. Both are at the leading edge of the innovative engineering and materials science of their day.

"Both enhance the same public benefit of enabling people to experience the air, views and ambience of the English seaside. Both reflect the vibrancy and confidence of the town and city of their day and both stem from and rely upon private sector enterprise."

The trust has spent the past two years searching for a 100 per cent private sector-funded scheme which would balance the restoration of the pier and also create an attraction which would be a future heritage site.

Soaring above every other building on the seafront, supporters of the tower say it would attract more than 500,000 visitors a year. It would also give Brighton a prestige structure to rival the Eiffel Tower.