The news that funding for the repair of Southport Pier has been approved by central government has been welcomed by Conservatives on Sefton Council.
Now, attention must be turned to ensuring there is an adequate maintenance budget in place for Southport Pier, says Conservative Group Leader on Sefton Council, Mike Prendergast.
Commenting, Councillor Prendergast said, “It’s certainly welcome news, with incredible timing just before the council enters purdah before the local elections, that central government have finally confirmed that the funding to repair and re-open our Pier has been approved. It’s a testament to the hard work of many local people right across the political spectrum that this issue has been kept at the forefront of the local and national agenda.”
“The sooner work can commence, the better. Due to the amount of time taken, it’s going to mean another summer of the Pier being closed but the announcement is certainly progress.”
“Even by Sefton Council’s own figures, the closure of Southport Pier has resulted in around £50 million of lost revenue to our town so far, with that figure likely to rise to well over £60 million by the time it re-opens. We also need to remember how the closure impacted individual businesses, such as the local family who operated the cafe at the end of the Pier, investing huge sums of their own money in a business that had to close through no fault of their own.”
“So it’s now absolutely vital that Sefton Council ensures the work is carried out properly this time and also ensure there is a proper maintenance budget in place. For those local people and political parties who attended last year’s public meeting about the Pier, we all heard that the budget for maintenance will likely be between £400,000 to £500,000 per year.”
“What we absolutely don’t want to see happen again, is for millions of pounds of taxpayers money to be spent on restoring the Pier, only for it to be neglected and fall into disrepair again. It was the Chancellor herself who said that the Pier had been allowed to fall into disrepair.”
Conservatives on Sefton Council previously put forward measures at Sefton Council that would have made a start on creating an annual maintenance budget by cutting long term vacant roles, 12 months or more, and scrapping some diversity and equality roles, finding around £172,000 every year for the maintenance budget needed.
These were rejected by Labour and a number of Liberal Democrat councillors in Cambridge Ward, Meols Ward and Ainsdale abstained, with the Lib Dem leadership divided on the proposals.
Councillor Prendergast continued, “The Pier fell into disrepair because it wasn’t maintained properly. We can’t let that happen again and whilst it is great news to hear the funding confirmed, this doesn’t take away from the fact that we need a plan to maintain it in future. Southport’s tourism economy can’t afford another multi-million pound hit in the current climate.”