i360 start date suffers setback

Credit crunch delay 'not a major problem'

Miles Godfrey - The Argus Monday, 10 March, 2008

WORK on Brighton's landmark i360 tower has been delayed because of the global credit crunch, the Argus can reveal.

Work was due to start on the 172-metre, £20 million Brighton Eye project at the end of this month.

But it has been confirmed that unsettled world markets have scuppered that timetable and workmen are now not likely to set foot on the site until June.

Chairman of the West Pier Trust, Geoff Lockwood, claimed neither the i360 project nor the longer-term ambition to restore the West Pier had been put in jeopardy.

Mr Lockwood told The Argus: "It's fair to say that the current financial climate has meant we have had to put the work back slightly.

"There has had to be some re-jigging done in terms of finance.

"But we're relaxed about it. It is not really a major problem. Work will still get under way in the early summer."

Mr Lockwood also revealed that talks with an unnamed private sector party had been held over the work to restore the pier.

He said: "We are not talking about long-term - this will happen and will it happen quite quickly we hope. We are very confident."

A spokeswoman for i360 architects Marks Barfield, who also built the London Eye, confirmed that work would not start this month and that it intended to give Brighton and Hove City Council four week's notice before moving on site.

Gary Peltzer-Dunn, chairman of the city council's major projects committee, said: "If Geoff is confident everything is going to go ahead as planned then I am. I have every faith in him.

"We are not connected with the intricacies of the financial structure of the project so obviously we have to rely on what people who are involved are saying.

"But my understanding is that there is no major problem."

Brian Oxley, leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, said he was not aware of the issue but added: "We've been working very hard with the people behind the 1360 and there was broad support for it among all the political parties.

"I hope work can get started on it quickly because I think the people in the city are excited about it."

The i360 is set to be the country's tallest observation tower, beating Portsmouth's Spinnaker Tower and the London Eye in height.

It is being built on the promenade at the base of the West Pier and will offer stunning panoramic views of the Sussex coast and for miles inland.

Work is due for completion in 2009.