Sefton Conservatives Urge Council to Fast Track Pier Repairs Independently

Sefton Council Must Find the Money to Fix the Pier say Sefton Conservatives 

Conservative Group Leader on Sefton Council, Mike Prendergast, is calling on Sefton Council to commit to funding the repair works needed as soon as possible and finding the resources to do so.

Councillor Prendergast said, “Virtually all councillors in Southport agree that we absolutely have to get Southport Pier back open as soon as possible. It’s an iconic part of our town’s heritage, a vital visitor attraction and and amenity for local people.”

“Where we appear to have disagreement is on funding. The current position of the council is that they want a government grant, that isn’t going to happen. From what was said at the last budget meeting, Lottery funding isn’t forthcoming either.”

“So we either carry on going round with the begging bowl asking for money from a range of organisations, taking a long time and costing more money all the while the Pier continues to deteriorate.” 

“Already, the £3 million allocated for decking repairs has been depleted down to the sum of £2.3 million. As time marches on, it becomes more expensive.”

“The other option, which is one I think we should pursue and explore further, is that Sefton Council looks to find the money itself and takes it on as a capital project. As a council Sefton will end up borrowing £42.5 million for Bootle Strand, we’ve loaned £8 million to Sandway Homes, loaned huge sums to Sefton Hospitality Operations Limited to set up a catering company yet Sefton won’t prioritise Southport Pier to the same extent.”

“For the last 2 years both opposition parties have put forward measures to try and facilitate this, but each time they were blocked by Labour. On each occasion Southport’s Labour councillors voted against these proposals.”

“We have this bizarre situation where Labour keep saying there is no money and when they are presented with options that would generate some of that money, they reject them out of hand.”

“There is no white knight coming to save us, we have to tackle this problem ourselves and we in Sefton Conservatives will work to help make this happen. Doing nothing and hoping someone comes along with a bag of cash, isn’t working and won’t work, we need to be proactive and make the tough decisions necessary to get our Pier back open.”