Seven new supports are set to be erected to prop up the crumbling Madeira Terraces as the council continues to look for the funding needed to restore them.
Work on restoring three of the arches is set to start in spring, using almost £500,000 raised by a crowdfunder last year.
However, two bids for lottery money to restore all the terraces have now failed and as the arches continue to deteriorate, more supports are planned to ensure they don’t collapse.
In a planning application submitted this month, the council’s senior building surveyor Genevieve Saunders said: “Brighton and Hove City Council’s consultant structural engineers inspect the structure annually and have identified seven lattice beams which require temporary propping until such time as sufficient funds are available for the restoration.
“It is likely that further propping will be advised in future inspections.”
The props will be similar to the one already in place to the east of Concorde 2, which has been powder coated to match the “Brighton Blue” of the lattice beams.
The new props will be able to painted in the same colour, or any other colour chosen by the council’s conservation and seafront development officers.
Work on the beams is due to start in the spring, with the props in place by summer.
The listed Victorian terraces have been closed since 2013, when a routine survey uncovered structural concerns.
Subsequent surveys have uncovered substantial corrosion of the cast iron fixings keeping the 130-year-old structure up, leading to further closures and the relocation of several businesses.
The council wants to redevelop the arches with space for new businesses underneath, which will help fund the estimated £20million total cost of the scheme.
It will make another bid to for lottery money next month as well as other funding opportunities.
By the time that any serious funding is available, the terraces will be in such a state of disrepair that they will have to be completely removed.
The Greens, during their tenure, always claimed that they did not have the money to make repairs; funny how they found the money to send Green Councillors on a ‘fact-finding’ mission to Palestine, and also found money to set-up their ‘Celebrating Diversity’ unit at the council…
The best place for the terraces is now the private sector, who have the capital, and the business acumen to make a scheme like this work.