Work on the i360 to Start this Month

Monday, 12 October, 2009

Don't get too excited. It's a good headline but it needs a little explanation.

Planning permission for the West Pier observation tower was granted back in 2006. One of the conditions was "the development to be commenced within three years." That deadline runs out on 25 October.

Rather than apply for an extension the developers are planning to dig a few holes on the site before then. This will, it seems, count as commencement of the development so the permission will not lapse.

This interesting bit of legal nonsense was revealed at the AGM of the West Pier Trust earlier this month, in answer to a question from our chairman. The real news is, as it has been for some time now, that the credit crunch is preventing serious work from starting.

Another Trust member asked the chairman what plan B was. He replied that if the i360 could not go ahead, the Trust would try to find a developer to build a modern pier out into the sea.

The main problem for the Trust has always been that a pier is unlikely to generate enough cash to maintain itself. So the Trust's plan B is even less likely to work than plan A (the i360). Plan B should be something that you know you will be able to do if plan A fails.

Looking at the sorry state of the seafront opposite Regency Square, perhaps we need a plan B that avoids grandiose ideas like an observation tower or a pier, and just makes our bit of seafront as tidy as the rest.