Fight to save pier 'will continue after setback'

A council leader has said she will continue fighting for funding to fix a Victorian pier, despite being told a National Lottery Heritage grant would not be available "at this time".

Marion Atkinson told a Sefton Council meeting on Thursday that the authority had made an expression of interest to the funding body for £10m to fix Southport Pier, but had been "politely" told it would not be immediately invited to make a full application.

The pier has been closed since December 2022 due to health and safety concerns.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund said the council's proposals were not something it would support "in its current form".

Earlier this year, the council secured the listed buildings consent needed to allow repairs to be made.

Atkinson said her council would "apply again when the time is right" and added the local authority had done "all within our power to be ready to replace the pier when the money becomes available".

She added: "We have a plan. We have commitment."

Atkinson went on: "Let's be clear, the bottom line is the need for money, which the council does not have."

The leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition, former Southport MP John Pugh, said the National Lottery response was a "hammer blow" to the council's ambitions.

But he said Sefton Council had found £20m of its own money to help pay for a new conference centre next to the pier, £32m to buy the Strand, £8m to loan to its own housing company and £54m over the last five years to boost children's services.

He said: "Sefton can clearly fund the repair by appropriate use of revenue and capital resources. It just does not want to do so."

The BBC understands Sefton Council submitted an expression of interest to the Heritage Lottery Fund for the maximum £10m which would require development and delivery over a number of years.

The council could submit a revised expression of interest, perhaps for a smaller amount, later in the year.

A National Lottery Heritage Fund representative confirmed an expression of interest, as part of a pre-application process, had been submitted by Sefton Council.

"The project outline submitted was not something The National Lottery Heritage Fund would be likely to support in its current form," the representative said.

"We have provided feedback to Sefton Council and have invited them to get in touch with us if they would like to discuss this further."

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