The owner of Southport Pier Pavilion said he hopes there will be more clarity on the pier's future with his business "rotting away".
Southport Pier was forced to close last December due to health and safety concerns. Only months before, Sefton Council had committed to a £3m investment to replace the wooden beams which make up the pier's surface.
This morning, Friday, the council estimated the full refurbishment works required to open the pier safely again could exceed £13 million - more than £10 million in excess of the £3m the council agreed to borrow to fund decking replacement. As a result, the council will look to secure funding to assist with the project.
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At the moment, no timescale has been provided for the refurbishment works and subsequent reopening. After the news broke this morning the ECHO spoke to some of the people affected by its continued closure.
Colin Jamieson who owns Southport Pier Pavillion, and has been left marooned since the closure, estimates he has invested over £1m in the business after he took over the lease in 2003. The dad-of-two said his income was already in decline when the council stopped the miniature railway from operating on the pier.
He told the ECHO: "I'm surprised at the news but glad there is some sort of clarity now. I'm confident in the council's commitment to the job after our meeting with Southport Tourism Board yesterday.
"Hopefully now there’s some sort of plan they will fully engage with us as promised and offer us some sort of compensation package to see us through this awful period, which is obviously no fault of our own. After all, our hundreds of thousands of pounds of investment is locked down behind those gates rotting away."
An independent survey is expected to identify that more than 25% of the pier’s decking is majorly damaged or in need of immediate replacement. This means the pier will remain closed until the full refurbishment job, which will include working on more than 14 miles of severely decayed decking, is completed.
The council said it has received feedback which can inform the next steps of the project. These steps will be presented at an emergency meeting of the cabinet on Thursday, June 29.
Cllr John Pugh said: "If you look at the statement made by the council there are some ominous signs in it. First off there is a mention of the funding gap and with rather vague mention of where the gap can be found.
"The other is that until everything is done the pier will remain closed with no time scale put on everything, I'm worried this could turn into another open-ended scenario. I suspect the length of the closure is very unnecessary."
Sefton Council leader, Cllr Ian 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.”
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