Date set for i360 work -- again

Construction to begin next month after delays

Katya Mira - The Argus Friday, 21 September, 2007

Work to construct a landmark seafront tower has been delayed by four months.

Construction on the i360, dubbed the Brighton Eye, was originally due to start on July 23 and be completed in 2009.

The 172m-high needle tower with an ascending and descending circular viewing platform will be built at the foot of the wrecked West Pier.

It is now anticipated that work will not get underway until the end of October. Geoff Lockwood, from the West Pier Trust, said the delay had been caused by legal loopholes.

He said the trust had not anticipated that a process where a 1930s lease agreement which needed to be surrendered or declared void through official channels would be as complicated as it proved to be.

Mr Lockwood said: "We are confident that the project will commence this year despite the delays. All parties are fully committed to going ahead with the work.

"None of it is weather dependent and it will not matter that the pier will be taken apart in October rather than the summer."

The needle tower will be built off-site but the first stage of work will involve parts of the charred remains of the pier being dismantled so it can be constructed. Plans from London Eye architects Marks Barfield include restoring some of these original parts and including them as part of the final development.

It will be Britain's highest observation tower providing panoramic views across the Channel, along the South Coast and over the South Downs.

The pod, which will be able to hold 125 people, will be more than nine times the size of a London Eye capsule.

The scheme was given the go-ahead by planners last year after the Noble Organisation, owner of the Palace Pier, dropped its objections. The firm had attempted to block any redevelopment at the site.

The trust said it hoped the creation of i360 would eventually lead to a new pier being built.

Councillor Garry Peltzer Dunn, chairman of Brighton and Hove City Council's major projects sub-committee, said: "There is no significant delay in the development of the i360 project.

"The council, the developers and the West Pier Trust are working together to make all the necessary arrangements and agreements that are essential before a development of this scale in such a prominent location can properly start on site.

"Once the agreements are in hand the development can proceed and will, I am sure, provide an iconic landmark which will enhance Brighton and Hove's position as a premier international tourist destination."