| Plans underway to build first UK pier in 50 years |
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| Friday, 21 December 2007 | |
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Proposals are under way to rebuild Wirral Pier in Merseyside.
A study is being commissioned by Wirral Council to assess the feasibility of the structure. The £210,000 study will be carried out in two parts. Engineers will assess flood risk, ecological impact and planning factors. The feasibility study is being funded by the North West Development Agency. Rob Mason, development director for Neptune Developments told B&E online that if the study is successful, he expects building costs to be between approximately £5m and £6m. “The study itself is an initial high-level engineering study which we’re looking to get complete by the end of March next year. Our gut reaction is that it can be done because we’re looking to build something exactly along the lines of the old pier.” Mason expects at least a two-year period from completion of the study until building work could begin. He said: “Despite the fact that a pier previously stood on the site, it is a site of special scientific interest. There’s an awful lot of justification that’s got to go into it.” The original pier at New Brighton was used for promenading, entertainment and by Mersey Ferries as a passenger landing stage. The structure was demolished in the 1970s. The plans come as New Brighton looks forward to massive redevelopment, following the green light of a major two-part scheme to revitalise it. The first phase of Neptune Development’s £17m redevelopment of the old Floral Pavilion and associated commercial development is progressing and an outline planning application for a £45m second phase was approved in October. |
