West Pier.

[BRIGHT ON Q]

Havn't been along the sea front for a while but on sunday i couldnt believe the state of the west pier now.I have seen it since its been burnt out but half of its in the water now.It seemed to be a bigger tourist attraction than the palace pier.Time to get the demolition squad in i think.

 

[Beach Hut]

It's time to do something really dynamic here - destroy it and build a new one ?

 

[¡Cereal Killer!]

Just throw a few bricks engulfed in flames at it, that will do the trick

 

[Bobby's Gull]

The pier looks a mess. Nimby's again isn't it?

 

[timseagull]

But which is the bigger mess?

Embassy Court (which is a blot on the landscape)?

or

The West pier which looks like a scafolding site in the sea?

 

[Mr C]

I think it's absolutely disgusting that it's been allowed to get to this state

 

[SussexSpur]

Think it looks lovely.
Would love to get a chance to walk on it, or a refurbished version, but since the chances of that happening are about as high as Darren Anderton's prospects of an England recall, am happy to see it glide gracefully, sadly into the sea.
Looks sort of romantic, in all its pathetic-ness.

 

[Bwian]

I saw it on Sunday too for the first time in ages.

Definitely time to let it go-there isn't enough money around to build the replica and that's all it would be; a replica....

Why bother? Time for Brighton to move on and let the old girl go-not all old buildings can be saved and the West Pier falls into that category.

 

[GUNTER]

I was all for the restoration, but it's now beyond help. I think it should be demolished as soon as possible. If the decide to build another - great, especially as it would piss the Noble Organisation off who are rumoured to have had something to do with the fires. If not, no worries as it is such an eyesore.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Nowt wrong with Embassy Court, I kinda like it in a weird way. Some of the apartments inside it are really quite nice. Wouldn't like to be stuck in there during a fire though.

 

[bhafc99]

I used to love the West Pier when it was simply derelict and the flocks of starlings would swirl around it on autumn evenings, but now, yes, it's a wreck and the time has come for the old girl to be put out of her misery. And no new pier, please, it would just be some awful cheap eyesore, and the money spent on it could be better spent elsewhere in the city.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

The structure on the far end of the West Pier should have a preservation order slapped on it and left to stand as a permanent reminder of quarter of a century of criminal council neglect. It should also be the first thing the Ignoble Organisation gets to see right in their worthless faces every morning. And to show the wankers of the West Pier Trust just how they let their town down with their smug complacency and bad anoraks.

Here's a couple of photos I took last week.

BTW Embassy Court could easily end up as THE address in Brighton, swanky million quid luxury apartments for stylish city living and all the rest of it - if only somebody could be arsed to not let it crumble like the West Pier. What's WRONG with these people?

 

[CHAPPERS]

Quite right, THPP.

 

[34064 Fighter Command]

The tragedy is that the West Pier could, if it had been maintained properly, have been developed into as big a tourist draw as the Palace ( Brighton ) Pier.

I can remember ( just ) walking on it when it was still open. It was an asset to the town then, now it symblises the apathy and lack of vision that Nimbyism in this country has brought.

The dereliction of the West Pier mirrors the dereliction in the community values of society.

Sorry to go all socialogical, but that's what it appears to me.

The development of cheap foreign travel, & decline of the traditional British Seaside holiday means we will never see a replacement built.

 

[BensGrandad]

Demolish it and dont waste money trying tio refurbish it. The main benefactors ofa re-furbishment/rebuild would be the high class stall holders they suggest putting on there.

 

[Man of Harveys]

I thought they were doing up Embassy Court - Terence Conran is involved. And, if that continues, with the current state of the property market, it'll be very nice too, a real asset to the city.
Talking of which, it's important to bear in mind that restoring the West Pier was always going to involve rebuilding the structure anyway - sea levels are higher now than in 1866 when it was built and are only likely to rise further.

So the arson, which leads me to suggest we should all boycott the PALACE Pier, shouldn't actually make that much difference. They've taken a load of the fixtures and fittings down and are keeping them at an understandably-secret location.

The only real opposition now comes from a) the tiny-brained lunatics who live nearby - they have cretinously outnimby-d the Falmer yokels, no mean feat - and b) unambitious and short-termist people that might look at the current sad state of affairs, give up and say, "sod it, just knock it down". Just think: a West Pier restored even to the 1866 buildings would get favourable coverage for the town in every national and plenty of international newspaper. The publicity would be invaluable to the city - just think of the dosh that would bring in.

So, do like me and join the West Pier trust. The Christmas cards aren't bad either.

http://www.westpier.co.uk/

 

[Josky]

The only real opposition now comes from a) the tiny-brained lunatics who live nearby - they have cretinously outnimby-d the Falmer yokels, no mean feat - and b) unambitious and short-termist people that might look at the current sad state of affairs, give up and say, "sod it, just knock it down".

Completely agree Man of Harvey's - I say restore/rebuild/reconstruct the West Pier. Stuff this rubbish about knocking it down and letting it go. It's as much a part of Brighton as the Clock Tower, as the Palace Pier, etc, etc and abandoning it would be like stamping on the identity of the town I love.

We can and will beat this nimby rubbish, with the West Pier, with Falmer, with er... anything else we want to build for the good of the City. Huzzah!

 

[maffew]

the work on Embassy Court has already started, they reckon its only going to take about a year and cost something like 6m quid. Got some mates who live there and the project plan is impressive if they get it all done. Theres even talk of a residents bar in there again further down the line amongst other things. all the lease holders are getting stung this year for maintenance fees of like 30-40k I think, so theres quite a lot of them coming up for sale

 

[m20gull]

Looking at the photos on here, I would say that if a West Pier is rebuilt (and the chances of that happening must now be close to zero) it won't have much of the old one in it. It would therefore be a replica and worthless.

Let it go with grace and dignity and remember the old times. Then look forward to the new ones.

What would you like to see built in Brighton (other than Falmer as it's not in Brighton)?

 

[CHAPPERS]

It's as much a part of Brighton as the Clock Tower, as the Palace Pier, etc, etc and abandoning it would be like stamping on the identity of the town I love.

To me, it's more a part of Brigton than that tacky piece of shit to it's east will ever be. I've never seen it in all it's glory, only pictures, but if it is restored to look even nearly like it did back in the good old days then it will be a fantastic asset to the city. I also don't understand why people pipe up about the costs of rebuilding it, the thing will pay for itself. We are meant to be a forward thinking cultural city. How can knocking down the most important cultural landmark of the city be considered forward thinking.

Cheer MoH, I will be joining the trust.