Brighton Pier pressure

A start to work on the West Pier’s replacement is closer than ever before

In just over a fortnight the West Pier Trust will hold its annual general meeting. The trust’s members and board could be forgiven for feeling at their most optimistic for a good many years. Two loans are being put in place that should mean construction starts soon on the i360. There had been hopes that work would begin this month.
The reality is that it could be any time between now and the spring. It depends on the terms of two loans being finalised, both having been agreed in principle since the start of the year. The goal is to open the i360 in the summer of 2015.

One is a £3 million loan from Coast to Capital (C2C), the local enterprise partnership that replaced SEEDA, the regional development agency. C2C runs the Growth Fund which is intended to help work start on “shovel ready” schemes where lending is the obstacle. This recognises that banks have gone from being perhaps too willing to lend before the credit crunch to over-cautious since.

The other loan, approved in July, is for almost £15 million from Brighton and Hove City Council. The commercial loan was approved unanimously with the support of Labour and Conservative councillors as well as the ruling Greens. Concerns were voiced about the projected number of visitors and these have been addressed during the due diligence process which is close to being completed. The two loans bridge the funding gap. Marks Barfield, the architects, had managed to raise £20 million towards the £38 million cost of the i360.

The Trust has said that it has not given up on the pier and that a new West Pier remains its ultimate goal. It hopes and expects that the i360 and its stream of visitors will help to generate interest in the plans to build a new pier. And it will be a new pier, as a restoration is no longer possible, although the aim is to design a structure in keeping with the original.

A statement for the annual meeting from trust chairman Glynn Jones said, “The i360 scheme will provide us with a stunning feature, matching the innovative engineering and architectural standard of the 1866 West Pier, and rising from its restored root end. We believe the i360 reproduces the spirit of the West Pier in a 21st century form.
“We are still committed to exploring the possibility of a sea-based pier, and are in agreement with a private sector partnership to develop those plans, but our focus for the moment must still remain on delivering the i360.

“Meanwhile we are working closely with the council on the regeneration and landscaping of the areas either side of the pier. The design will have a strong West Pier theme, using artefacts salvaged from the pier in the 1990s. Included in the scheme will be a restored original
1866 kiosk.”

Given that the pier closed to the public in 1975, it is little surprise that some have criticised the trust and the council. Mike Holland, the property developer, is among those who believe that a new pier could have been constructed relatively quickly and cheaply. He cites the example of Weston-super-Mare. The trust’s supporters are not convinced about the quality. Few would dispute the elegance of the storm-battered West Pier before arsonists struck twice in a matter of months nearly ten years ago. The second fire put paid to a lottery-funded restoration scheme.

For now the arguments are academic. Trust chief executive Rachel Clark will be hoping to be able to report to the board that the loans have been signed off, and we can have a pier into the future with a date for work on the i360 finally to begin.