Sefton Council has revealed that required repairs to Southport Pier could cost as much as £13m.
The country’s second longest pier has been “temporarily” closed since December 2022, when frost damage led to the discovery of additional structural concerns.
Although the final survey report is awaited, the Council has received sufficient interim feedback to inform recommended next steps that will be presented to an emergency meeting of the Cabinet on Thursday 29th June 2023.
The Council has today confirmed that the pier will remain closed until full refurbishment works have been completed.
The independent survey is expected to identify that more than 25% of the Pier’s decking is majorly damaged or in need of immediate replacement, meaning the Pier will remain closed until full refurbishment completed.
The Council stopped short of committing the full value of funding to the repairs, instead saying a press release that: ” the Council proposes to progress engagement as quickly as possible with potential funders and stakeholders”.
During the Summer of 2022, Sefton Council allocated £3m to repair works after a report confirmed that the pier was “rotting from the inside.”
Councillor Joe Riley voiced concerns in April that the pier may have to be knocked down if conditions continued to deteriorate. In response, Sefton Council denied that demolition had been considered.
Southport Pier was listed as a protected Grade II building in 1975. Listed status demands that the building’s condition and heritage is legally protected, however demolition of a Grade II asset can be considered in extraordinary circumstances such as significant damage, or if the building’s repair is not economically viable.
[table id=6 /]
Cllr Maher said: “This Cabinet Report makes sobering reading. It is going to be a huge and costly scheme, but the Cabinet is supportive of the proposal for a full refurbishment project.
“We recognise the Pier’s importance in Southport’s, in Sefton’s and in the country’s seaside heritage as well as its popularity with the many millions who visit Southport’s wide range of attractions each year.
“The Cabinet report also leaves me in no doubt that the decision to close the Pier after last December’s extreme weather to ensure the safety of people visiting and working on the pier, although not taken lightly, was the right one.”
Cllr Maher continued: “Last year, before the Pier was hit by the extreme weather in December 2022, which significantly worsened some of the wear already identified, the Council had already earmarked £3 million to replace all the decking.
“The actual refurbishment figure could exceed that by more than £10 million, such is the amount of deterioration inflicted by the elements on our much-loved Pier.
“We have to consider all options available to us, but the Council is not supportive of any suggestion of closing the Pier permanently, and it has been disappointing to see some casting doubt on it’s future and talking down the Council’s commitment to it – particularly as some of those doing so claim to represent the town’s best interests.
“What we need now is support and we are certainly not too proud to ask for help on behalf of this important asset, on behalf of the town and on behalf of our borough.
“Given the scale of investment needed and the unprecedented financial pressures the Council is under, there is a clear need to engage with other funding agencies and specialist heritage and pier related organisations to identify opportunities to provide financial support and ensure this project will deal fully with all current known maintenance, refurbishment, repair and replacement requirements.
Cllr Marion Atkinson, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration & Skills, said: “I fully sympathise with all the business who have been affected by the closure and understand their frustrations while waiting for this independent report. But Sefton Council will always put the safety of the public and those companies’ employees first.
“We will continue to work with affected business owners, including the current Pier concessionaire. The halfway concessionary store, which can be found attached to the side of Southport Pier remains open.
“Despite unwarranted speculation about the need for the closure, independent health and safety experts will confirm that the Pier must remain closed until the full refurbishment project been carried out.
“This is an iconic but complex Grade II Listed structure that is hundreds of years old and is a thousand metres long. We have 56 miles of underfoot decking which needs replacing.
“It is also the case that the number and condition of piers nationally is diminishing, and the cultural and social significance of those remaining is increasing.
“Given the age, location and scale of historic structures of this nature, it is unsustainable for these to remain the sole financial responsibility of any Local Authority, as this report demonstrates in the case of Southport Pier.
“To me there is clearly a case to lobby Government for a national fund to address this pressure, and to ensure Piers receive an ongoing, ringfenced, realistic and proactive maintenance budget allocation rather than having to reactively respond as seems to be commonplace nationally.
“Everyone, not just the Local Authority, has to be totally realistic and accept that this is not a task which will be finished in a matter of weeks or even months. Once a funding solution is identified, we will ensure the works are undertaken diligently and effectively in order to restore and protect Southport Pier for many years to come, but we cannot provide any firm timescales at present, until a solution to the funding gap is secured.”
OTS News on Social Media