By Martyn Fisher
Work on the long-delayed i360 tower by the West Pier in Brighton is expected to start within weeks.
Architects Marks Barfield, part of the team behind the project, say they are close to securing the remaining £20 million funding needed to build the controversial Brighton Eye.
Marks Barfield managing director David Marks said that the 183-metre tower – with a pod capable of three trips an hour for 200 people at a time – would boost the area’s finances.
He said: “This project is going to bring the benefits of regeneration and bring visitors to Brighton.”
It is hoped that the 60-tonne tower will open in time for the London 2012 Olympics, and bring 750,000 extra tourists to Brighton each year.
But figures compiled by Tourism South East suggest that this aspect of the Brighton economy is thriving, with the area earning about £1 billion from tourism this year.
And unlike Portsmouth City Council, which used its magazine Flagship to ask whether locals wanted the 170m Spinnaker Tower (60 per cent of 13,000 voters said yes), Brighton and Hove City Council made little effort to consult residents over the i360.
Rushed
Local photographer Greg Allum told me: “I’d love to see something on the West Pier site.
“But we as a community have never been asked our opinions about the i360 and it’s been rushed through.”
Locals have criticised the erection of the proposed steel needle – set to be the tallest of its kind in the country – since it was granted planning permission in October 2006.
Nevertheless, West Pier Trust chief executive Rachel Clark believes that the conclusion to a lengthy battle is now on the horizon.
She said: “We’re just about there with regards to securing the funding needed to complete the i360 project.
“Once that funding is secured, the tower will be up in no time at all.”
The Spinnaker Tower was funded by the Millennium Commission and is owned by Portsmouth City Council.
However, the cash-strapped city council in Brighton and Hove has had no direct involvement with the i360, leaving the developers to take the ire from angry residents.
Heyday
The pier, built by Eugenius Birch in 1866, had its heyday in the early years of the 20th century.
It was forced to close in 1975 and the council rejected a chance to purchase the site a year later which led to the pier being vested in the Crown Estate.
An Act of Parliament allowed the West Pier Trust to operate the pier from 1978 and it subsequently bought the Grade I listed building for £100 in 1984.
The Heritage Lottery Fund pledged more than £14 million in 1998 towards a private sector led restoration of the pier.
When John Major set up the National Lottery he cited the restoration of the pier as an example of a project that would only happen with lottery funding.
But the owners of the Palace Pier objected to the plans, delaying progress.
Then storms and arson attacks in 2003 reduced the West Pier to its present state leading to the Heritage Lottery Fund to scrap its promise.
Three years later Marks Barfield saw their £40 million idea for the i360 granted planning permission.
Concerns
Emily Mansfield started a petition against the tower’s erection which voiced concerns that she and fellow residents held about the project.
Opinion among those who disagree with the planned location of the i360 differs as to what should be done instead.
But all believe that there is no room for it on the seafront.
Emily Mansfield said: “The i360 is of futuristic design and does not suit such a historic location.
“While you may get a great view from the top of the tower, the panoramic view from ground level would be obstructed by a large steel pole.
“The West Pier Trust was set up to preserve and protect the pier – not replace it with modern gimmicks.”
Such modern gimmicks have been a feature of possible additions to the area’s array of Regency architecture recently.
The most notable was the design by Frank Gehry – architect of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao – for the King Alfred Leisure Centre in Hove.
His proposal was for a tower with giant glass wings.
It won planning permission but its financial backers pulled the plug.
Struggle
With the four-year struggle that Marks Barfield and the West Pier Trust have had in securing funds for the i360, perhaps prospective backers don’t think modern gimmicks are financially viable.
Marks Barfield and the West Pier Trust – who will act as landlords – have never said how the i360 will turn a profit.
The Spinnaker Tower, for instance, is free to ride for anyone with a Portsmouth postcode, and thus, is used to drive trade towards that area of the city.
However, the i360 will have no such incentive, and Emily Mansfield believes paying to ride the tower will put locals off.
She said: “The cost to ascend the tower has been stated as £7 which would mean that after the initial ride, the attraction would be of little or no use to locals.”
Selma Montford, founder of the Brighton Society, challenged Marks Barfield on one of the things that concerned her most about the project – the number of jobs that it will provide.
She said: “When I asked David Marks at a public meeting what the employment opportunities would be, he said restaurant workers.
“I asked whether they would all be low-paid jobs and how many there would be. He couldn’t answer.”
Plaudits
As the team behind the London Eye, Marks Barfield received deserved plaudits for one of the most important pieces of architecture seen in Britain in the past decade.
However, their reputation will be on the line when the i360 sees the light of day.
The Conservative-controlled council has said that its hands are tied, preventing it from stepping in and doing something with the site.
Even if it wanted to step in, it is financially constrained.
Earlier this month it set out plans to make savings of £12 million in the next financial year after cuts announced in the government’s comprehensive spending review.
But plenty of people in Brighton and Hove believe that their political representatives should be doing more to influence what happens to Birch’s West Pier.
And with council elections planned for May 2011, the incumbents would be well advised to listen to public opinion.
Hmm, hardly a very balanced piece, much more comment than news. In fact, it reads like the grumbling of someone who lives on Regency Square, wants something done about the West Pier but doesn’t like the solution the West Pier Trust have come up with.
What’s more, the idea that the Council* should step in and start chucking money at the West Pier when a viable commercial project is already in place would be fantasy at the best of times – at a time when vital social services are facing the axe, it’s verging on offensive.
* disclosure: I used to work for them, though not in relation to the i360
It is nothing but a fun fair ride. There is no point in going up in the air to look at the sea – it looks better at ground level or when walking on the pier. I hope that this project fails.
Completely disagree. I think the i360 is a wonderful futuristic tower and will add a modern, stylish twist to the beautiful old seafront. I’m really glad it’s going ahead and I hope people will grow to love it.
what a donut , speaks volumes for the state of peoples minds , sorry about i360
With Marks Barfield involved in this project it has the potential of being a great success.I can hardly wait for the opening of the I360 and look forward to the fantastic lighting scheme associated with the project. This magnificent structure will only add to the many attractions that Brighton has to offer to both tourists and Brightton citizens.
i think that the i360 should be built bu ti dont see why the west pier should be demolished. th ebuilding of the i360 isnt going to affect the current position of the west pier in anyway so why should they demolish it?
to me the west pier is like sculpture, and old memory. its like getting rid of an old friend. 🙁