Over the weekend the Chancellor has indicated that Southport Pier could receive up to £20 million for repairs to the Pier which was closed by the Labour run council in 2022.
At the same time, the Chancellor described Southport Pier as “a national treasure that has been allowed to fall into disrepair”. Sefton Council, who have responsibility for maintaining the Pier has been Labour controlled since 2012.
Commenting, Mike Prendergast, Conservative Group Leader on Sefton Council, said “Whilst it is good to hear that central government has agreed to provide funding for Southport Pier, which we all want to see open again as soon as possible, apart from the press releases and social media videos we have seen, there is precious little detail.”
“We still don’t know how much Southport will receive, when the money will be available, the process for applying or the criteria. So there are still a lot of questions to be answered.”
“The general tone is encouraging though, and it’s because this issue has been kept at the forefront of people’s minds by local campaigners, residents, local businesses and opposition councillors of all parties that this announcement has been made.”
“I agree with the Chancellor when she says the Pier was allowed to fall into disrepair. Sefton Council have not properly maintained the Pier and the £2 million of extra money from the last Conservative government, back in 2017, was wasted on a botched job. We don’t want to see that happen again.”
“Years of neglect and poor management by Labour run Sefton Council have left our Pier closed and in poor condition. The council has failed in its basic duty to properly maintain and protect one of our town’s greatest assets. The people of Southport deserve much better.”
“It’s imperative that a proper maintenance budget is put in place for our Pier so we don’t end up in this situation again. At the community meeting last year, attended by most local political parties as well as many local residents, figures of around £400,000 per year were talked about as being a realistic budget.”
“Measures need to be put in place to provide this. At last year’s budget meeting Conservatives on Sefton Council put forward scrapping equality and diversity roles to go towards this, these were rejected by Labour and a number of local Liberal Democrat councillors refused to support these measures too.“
“What we all want to see now is delivery, Southport Pier has been closed for far too long. Our tourism and hospitality sector has suffered and local people want to see one of our most iconic attractions back open.”
