Brighton and Hove councillor calls for Palace Pier to have its much-loved name restored

A veteran Brighton and Hove councillor is urging the buyer of the Palace Pier to revert to its widely used name.

Councillor Brian Fitch, who represents Hangleton and Knoll for Labour, criticised the current owner, the Noble Organisation, for rebranding it as Brighton Pier.

And he urged the pier’s supporters to sign an online petition calling for the name to be changed back. To sign the petition click here.

He said: “You can tell how unpopular the new name is because nobody round here uses it.

“This sale of one of Brighton and Hove’s true landmarks provides us with a fresh opportunity to put things right.”

When the grade II* listed pier was built it was called the Brighton Marine Palace and Pier which is still its formal name.

It was popularly known as the Palace Pier and for generations that was the name that adorned it in huge letters, notably on the theatre at the sea end.

Noble, which bought the pier in1984, controversially rebranded the pier in 2000, having “temporarily” dismantled the theatre in 1986.

The rebranding was controversial in part because at the time efforts were under way to restore Brighton’s other pier, the West Pier.

The West Pier has since suffered two arson attacks, with the second suspicious fire destroying any hope of an imminent restoration or reconstruction.

Councillor Fitch has tabled a written question for the next meeting of Brighton and Hove City Council’s new Green cabinet on Thursday 14 July.

He asked: “Does cabinet a) recognise the importance of the Palace Pier to the people of this city and b) will they assure me that every effort will be made to work with any new owner of the pier to ensure that they officially return to the landmark’s original name: Palace Pier.”

The cabinet meeting, which starts at Hove Town Hall at 4pm, is open to the public.