Repairing the Madeira Lift ahead of a full restoration of Concorde 2 would cost £500,000, the council revealed today.
The listed Victorian lift did not open last summer, and it’s now unlikely to be up and running again for several years.
But the first phase of the Madeira Terrace restoration, on which work is due to start this autumn, should see a new lift a few metres west of it open by 2025.
Wheelchair user Lina Talbot this week renewed her petition for a bus route between Kemp Town and Madeira Drive while there’s no disabled access to the beach from the Royal Crescent stretch of the seafront.
And today, the council said it is investigating whether it would be viable to operate a shuttle bus service between Marine Parade and Madeira Drive during peak times.
It said a new survey has shown that the lift shaft needs major structural work and can no longer safely support the weight of the old lift.
Work to upgrade the lift mechanism to bring it in line with modern standards had originally been planned. The significant decay of iron and timber in the lift shaft now means that doing this work alone would not be sufficient to bring the lift back into use.
Last month Brighton and Hove City Council said the whole lift would be restored along with the Shelter Hall – currently occupied by Concorde 2 – in a future phase of the restoration of Madeira Terrace.
Since the terrace was closed in 2014/15 the old lift has not opened at deck level and exits solely into the Concorde 2 nightclub. The lift had to be attendant-operated and could not accommodate mobility scooters. Due to increasing maintenance and repair issues over recent years, it has often had to be closed.
A new, fully accessible lift designed to accommodate wheelchairs, mobility scooters and buggies is to be installed at the Royal Crescent Steps in 2025. This will have lighting and security to provide 24-hour-a-day access for all to Madeira Drive and the deck from Marine Parade.
Donna Chisholm, Executive Director, Economy, Environment and Culture says: “The Victorian lift is a much-loved feature of Madeira Terrace but its age, like the terrace itself, means it needs significant repairs to make it safe and fit for purpose. The cost of these repairs is very difficult for the council to manage this year.
“Improving access for all is at the forefront of all our new projects and relying on aged infrastructure like the Victorian lift is challenging and costly.
“We know there are people with mobility issues and families with buggies who use the lift in summer months and it is most unfortunate and untimely to have it out of action.
“We are doing our best to ensure there is much better provision in future and are very sorry there’s no quick fix right now.”
The council added it has added 27 more disabled parking spaces in Madeira Drive, and more blue badge bays are also planned for the seafront near the King Alfred Leisure Centre.
A wheelchair accessible area has been created on the lower prom, directly below the Brighton Centre. A new wheelchair accessible beach pathway at Saltdean is also nearing completion.
At Brighton’s Seafront Office, three beach wheelchairs are now available to borrow at no charge.
A new all-terrain electric wheelchair, designed specifically to cope with steeply shelving shingle beaches, is currently being trialled with the help of a local disability support group, and the council hopes to launch this soon.
For comparison, the i360 cost £40.2 Million of public money. The Greens and some Tories voted for it. The losses amount to £12.38M so far!
Good point Rob. The i360, a symbol of waste from an uncaring City Council.
Another piece of heritage at risk due to inept town management. Give it two years and it will be beyond economical repair. However if it was re-purposed as a “bike lift” it would be done tomorrow…
How can repairing a lift cost half a million pounds?
Its restoration rather than a repair, so its everything , the tower, roof, shaft, engine, cage etc and all done according English Heritage regs, no short cuts
Who knows! Suggest they actually do domething positive about the I360 fiasco, sell the thing for scrap if necessary, and do something, anything, for the benefit of residents, especially the disabled.
It’s a bit weird when the heritage quote is allegedly unaffordable – so the repair doesn’t happen and we lose both the lift facility and another historic landmark.
Watch them turn what’s left into another seafront coffee outlet.
I’m still waiting for the seafront lamps to be restored – as was promised when they were removed.
Have we lost all concerns for our architectural heritage?
Spaffing £5m of our council tax on the unwanted Valley Gardens 3 is far more important to our Green and Labour coalition council than looking after our heritage and providing disabled access to the beach.
Well said.
Valley Gardens – the biggest waste of our money since the i360
As part of historic Brighton, this should just bloody well get repaired. The council has let the Arches deteriorate to a point where they will be an expensive repair – and they’re quite happy to fork out for a new lift with no architectural cohesion to its surroundings. A truly lazy design which sticks out like a sore thumb. The architects should go back and completely redesign this new lift to reflect the buildings of the area. And what would be wrong to have a pastiche of the current lift?
Your waste money on things like the i360 and cycle lanes that no one wants but for something people need you can’t be bothered. You should be ashamed of yourselfs
This is what happens when insufficient people vote in the local elections, the nutters get in as they are clever at getting their supporters to vote, everyone should vote and perhaps we would have decent representatives who spend tax-payers money wisely & sensibly, not fritter the money on building flower beds in the sea shingle, one big wave & that will all be washed away, clever people these nutters.
Turnout for the previous local elections were extremely low. If you feel that way, you should definitely be encouraging people to vote around you, one way or another, regardless of their perspectives.
Benjamin
Sadly the quality of candidates presented for election were very poor and none deserved to be voted for in our ward except the independent who took the seat.