UK seaside town in crisis as iconic pier may never reopen without £13m | UK | News
Businesses in a seaside town are “suffering” under the closure of its iconic pier, which would need a significant £13million cash injection to reopen. The council has yet to secure funding to fully repair the Grade II listed structure, which is set to turn 165 this year despite having been shut for more than two years.
Sefton Council acted on engineers’ advice to close Southport Pier in December 2022 after they discovered it was no longer safe for public use following a bout of severe weather. Shopkeepers and local businesses have been relying on its reopening to help boost the area’s economy, including the owner of Southport Pier Pavilion, Colin Jamieson, who said local businesses were “suffering” under the closures, reported Lancashire Live.
“All we can hope for is they get the money as soon as possible and get the pier reopened by next April,” he said in May last year.
Jamieson explained: “The town is suffering without the pier being open and all the other businesses say so. My businesses on the pier have been devastated by the closure with no help from the council to keep us afloat.”
Nearly a year after his comments, the council confirmed there was “no further news” on funding, which it estimates could exceed £13 million, more than £10 million in excess of the £3million it has agreed to borrow for decking replacement.
A Labour councillor for Sefton, Paulette Lappin, said: “We continue to do everything we can so that when funding is secured to repair the pier we will be in a position to start work straight away.
“We continue to speak with various organisations about what support they may be able to provide but at the moment there is no further news on this.”
Mike Sammon, a Liberal Democrat councillor for Sefton, called on the Council and the Government to “make it happen” through X.
In October, Sefton Council submitted a planning application for replacement and repair works to the deck and supporting steelwork, including refurbishment and reinstatement of handrails and seating pavilions.
It also requested an assessment from Historic England (HE) to check it was consistent with the tradition and quality of the pier, which was approved.
The pier has experienced several closures since its inauguration, including in 1959, after a fire destroyed 5,000 square feet of wooden decking and reduced the pier’s length by almost 20 percent.
A storm in 1989 caused such damage that Sefton Council applied to have it demolished due to the huge repair costs, but the motion was overturned by one vote.
Less than ten years later in 1998, the pier was closed again and it underwent a multi-million-pound restoration for three years until reopening in 2002. However, a report published in 2022 cited “inherent latent defects” from the works.