Southport's most popular attraction the Pier is in danger of falling down. Construction workers are erecting scaffolding underneath the decking to strengthen the supports which are rotting away and suffering from lack of maintenance.

The whole Pier is starting to look tired and unloved with broken decking and rubbish strewn all over the place. Plans have been passed to renovate the Pier but these appear to have been put on hold.

Be cheaper to demolish it and sell the iron for scrap, it's never open late and there isn't even a decent bar.

one look at it years ago said it would not last , not had a coat of paint since it was done up !!! , then the train and split support issue .

NOT helped by folk discarding rubbish onto the decking, instead of putting it into a rubbish bin.

Could have done with some weather sealant on the wooden planks,before they were installed,should have lasted 20+ years,they have'nt been fitted for 10 years yet,look how long the original wood lasted,maybe over 30-40 years,another cut-back when the last restoration work was done ? Would'nt put it past the council to cut corners to save money,but ends up costing more,to have the wood either repaired or replaced

Originally Posted by jonnybgood

Could have done with some weather sealant on the wooden planks,before they were installed,should have lasted 20+ years,they have'nt been fitted for 10 years yet,look how long the original wood lasted,maybe over 30-40 years,another cut-back when the last restoration work was done ? Would'nt put it past the council to cut corners to save money,but ends up costing more,to have the wood either repaired or replaced

The pier is a listed Grade II structure;
1983: It had todays equivalent of £190,000 spent on it to strengthen the pier structure.
1997: It had todays equivalent of £56,000 spent on it for a structural survey.
2002: In two Lottery awards, the pier attracted £1.73 Million to be spent on it.
Have we been short changed?

It was only a few years after the new boards were put down that they started to become loose, break and misalign in places. The train that now travels up and down the pier has damaged many of the boards.

Originally Posted by said

It was only a few years after the new boards were put down that they started to become loose, break and misalign in places. The train that now travels up and down the pier has damaged many of the boards.

Surely the council would have thought about the sun,or the sea air affecting the boards,and made sure they would be sound enough to last longer than what they have,as I said,the original boarding lasted many more years than these have,so somewhere along the way they have used,possibly cheaper quality boards,hence my comment,and like some people have said,it may be time to do away with,probably some,not all of the pier,shorten it up to the promenade,as it is definitely NOT as popular as it used to be.

Surely everyone knows that the ways of Councils are to let stuff drop to pieces and then bid for lottery or other one-off funds every few years when things get really bad. It is the little game they play rather than taking responsibility.

Well I am dumbstruck! Why has "shh you know who" not taken this opportunity to take over and have his photo taken pointing at the Pier wearing his blue suit.

Isn't the pier governed by a trust ?

Originally Posted by grassroots

Isn't the pier governed by a trust ?

No it's owned and paid for by the council.

The Victorians knew how to build, not the shower that put this thing up.

Originally the Train used to have a special section, with actual rail lines, for it to run on.

Perhaps if this had been continued the problem would not have occurred.

Sell it, at least it will then be maintained and not a burden
on the council plus it will generate an income.

Originally Posted by ausard2

Sell it, at least it will then be maintained and not a burden
on the council plus it will generate an income.

It generates an income from the rent the concessions pay, bad thing is it's never open late, went down tonight just after eight and it was closed, loads of people walking down the first half then getting disappointed to be face with locked gates.