"We’ve lost those two years and the pier has deteriorated in that time" - Southport Pier campaign sees huge public meeting turnout and support
Plus: Families of SEND children make respite care plea
Hello and welcome to the seventh edition of The Southport Lead. Today, we look again at Southport Pier after the strength of support for the saving the structure was made very clear at a packed out public meeting.
Arranged at short notice for the morning of a working day, the meeting had been expected to attracted a handful of attendees but instead saw hundreds pile in. After the meeting, The Southport Lead spoke with MP Patrick Hurley about his hopes for the saviour of the structure and the ways he believed this can be facilitated in both the short and long term.
Read on to hear more of what was discussed at that meeting along with the importance of a new planning permission update from Sefton Council.
Also in today’s newsletter is a look at a respite issue affecting the families of children with special educational needs and what changes they want to see made.
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Hundreds attend Save Southport Pier meeting
“I was thinking we would have about 30 or 40 people there and there were 200-odd people there and that was fantastic to see. We had a range of opinions and people were overwhelmingly positive.”
Patrick Hurley MP
When a short notice meeting was called for the morning of a working day, few realised that the love of Southport Pier was so strong that hundreds would make time to attend. While Mr Hurley, the Labour MP for Southport, estimated the crowd to be over 200, some guess it was double that.
The Southport Lead launched our petition calling for the beloved structure to be saved two weeks ago and on the evidence of Friday’s meeting, there is more desire than ever to see the structure restored and reopened to the public.
Given the historic nature of the 160-year-old pier, it was fitting that the meeting was organised and hosted by Silcock Leisure Group and took place at its Silcock’s Family Pier Restaurant. Like the pier, the Silcock family has a long history linked to the town’s tourism offering and to this day its businesses will be feeling the effect of the attraction’s closure.
At the meeting, which saw attendance and support from representatives of the three main political parties, pier expert Dr Anya Chapman - a tourism expert with specialist knowledge in piers - outlined some of the potential ways forward. Some were more popular than others but a key point was to learn from the other towns who’ve faced similar problems.
Speaking later on, Mr Hurley told The Southport Lead that it was imperative that action was taken sooner rather than later. “The pier’s been shut for two years and this meeting should have happened in January ‘23, not January ‘25. We’ve lost those two years and the pier has deteriorated in that time,” he said.
Mr Hurley continued: “Lots of places with piers have got the same issue because iron structures in sea water for 160 years doesn’t do a world of good to them. They’re all corroding, they’re all at risk of storm damage and so on. Southport’s not unique in that respect.”
The MP said he believes people shouldn’t be “dogmatic” about the what solution to find and but believes the best way forward is to revive the existing Southport Pier Trust and use this as a vehicle to earn grant funding from various sources
That group was formed in 1993, three years after the pier was saved from demolition by a single vote at a council meeting. While the group has largely sat dormant for much of its lifespan, some believe it could be the key to unlocking new funding to save the structure it was set up to protect.
With the group already registered with the Charity Commission, it is hoped that new membership of an existing entity could act more swiftly than a new organisation in securing funding to save the pier.
Over in Weston-super-Mare, Birnbeck Pier was built in the same year as Southport’s structure but has also been closed to the public on a long-term basis. Thanks to funding from various sources - including Heritage England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund - it will undergo a restoration and reopening. It is hoped similar could happen in Southport.
For Mr Hurley, a combination of short-term and long–term action is needed. First, such grants need to be sought to open the pier, potentially on a partial basis, and then he’d like to see a National Trust-style organisation set up to look after all of the UK’s piers.
He said: “In the very short term, I’d be aiming to get at least part of the pier open for summer 2026. If we can get say the Coastal Road to the Promenade stretch section refurbished and back open, we can get people on there while work continues on the rest.
“If we do that and get the pier open then what I don’t want to see is the local authority can’t afford to do everything it needs to do and in another 20 years there’s another funding crisis.”
His vision for a body set up to oversee all of the piers in the country would in mean that rather than individual councils being responsible for these historic attractions, a focused organisation would in theory be and could take advantage of expert knowledge, economies of scale and the use of specialist suppliers.
“We kind of forget that these things went up at a rate of knots in the 1800s and we;ve got a few dozen left.”
One of the many challenges facing the pier’s recovery is the costs involved in the refurbishment. Sefton Council allocated £3m to replace the wooden boards which line the walkway, only for its subsequent survey of the iron structure itself to lift that cost beyond £13m - a figure it says it simply cannot afford to meet.
The longer the wait goes on, the more than number will rise and The Southport Lead understands that figure was based on a quote which was only in place up to the end of 2024. The new figure will likely be much higher.
But while there are challenges, there is also great determination to see the pier reopened. Stand Up For Southport founder Andrew Brown is among the project’s biggest champions. He said: “It is all about the Southport community coming together to support the council in its ambitions; to campaign for the funding needed; and to show public support for it to open.
“A Stand Up For Southport poll in January of over 1,700 showed that 97% of local residents want Southport Pier reopened.
“It’s a hugely important tourist attraction that will give a massive boost to local businesses and our town as a whole when it reopens.”
He continued: “For anyone who couldn’t make this meeting today, others will take place, there will be ways to get involved.
“Everyone who attended and gave their email addresses will be contacted with further information.
“Thank you again to so many people who came, contributed, and showed a determined collective view that everyone in our town is desperate to be able to walk along Southport Pier once again.”
A further boost came earlier this week as listed building consent - a form of planning permission - was granted for the necessary restoration works which will effectively involve the pier being dismantled and rebuilt. While it does not mean work will start immediately, it’s an important obstacle to clear if and when funding is available.
Sefton Council remains insistent that not only can it not afford to fund the pier works alone but that a national contribution should be made regardless. This, it says, applies to both the restoration and subsequent maintenance due to the the pier being a “nationally significant heritage asset”
Meanwhile, the authority says work is ongoing to secure such funding. It said: “We continue to engage with a range of central and regional government departments and other parties, including the National Piers Society, over identifying funding for the refurbishment and longer-term maintenance of Southport Pier.”
“Sefton Council has and will continue to invest resources and funds into the Southport Pier project and there is an incredible depth of planning that is being done to put the pier in the best possible position so that refurbishment can begin swiftly once vital and necessary funding is secured.”
Distressed parents reach ‘crisis point’ and unable to ‘function properly’
By Elliot Jessett
Distressed parents in Southport said they’re at ‘crisis point’ and are calling on Sefton Council to provide more respite facilities for children with special educational needs. The parents are part of a local campaign group ‘Voice of the Families’ (VOF) which offers peer-to-peer support for parents of children with SEND and disabilities.
The group’s appeal to Sefton Council was made during an Overview and Scrutiny Committee for Children’s Services and Safeguarding last night Tuesday January 28 at Southport Town hall. Elected members heard a number of agenda items including a petition submitted by VOF entitled: ‘Establish Fair, Reliable, In-House Respite Services for Carers in Sefton’.
The petition was written by Julie Hennessey and detailed the urgent need for more respite provision for children and families in the borough, stating: “As a witness to the distress of parent carers reaching crisis point within our community, I call upon Sefton Council to take immediate action.
“Some parents are house bound whilst attempting to meet the needs of children without a school place. They’re giving up their careers and are struggling to manage.”
The petition was presented to the committee by VOF spokesperson, David Moorhead who expanded on the importance of respite care, he said: “Many families in Sefton suffer from the fact they are often unable to function properly as a family because they have a limited support network. They have children who have very high demands. So they do need respite.
“Some are single parents who often find themselves needing a hospital appointment, which they can’t go to because they are looking after their children. They can’t have an operation which could be life threatening if they can’t go.
“They are trapped in their own homes, because when the schools have failed to provide provision, when they have turned to social care and asked and begged and begged and begged for care. They got nowhere.
“So they are declining hospital appointments. They are declining so many things.”
Responding to the petition, committee chair, Councillor Judy Hardman acknowledged the need for more respite care in Sefton and explained the local authority is in the process of delivering more provision. Cllr Hardman cited the ongoing development of Springbrook which provides planned overnight, short breaks for children with learning and physical disabilities, some of whom may have complex medical needs.
Cllr Hardman added: “Children with complex needs in Sefton currently have various resources available to them to access short breaks.
“These include ‘Aiming High’, ‘Buddy Up’, plus aiming high provides play and activity sessions for children aged five to 18 after school and at weekends, as well as during school holiday periods. Families have offered positive feedback about aiming high and sessions are particularly well attended during the holiday and weekend periods.
“In total, 464 children accessed Aiming High in 2023 to 2024. During the summer of 2024, 250 families accessed family sessions at Aiming High and 275 individual children accessed the sessions during the summer period.
“We recognize that services such as Aiming High and youth services such as Buddy Up might not meet the needs of all children. We’ve taken on board feedback from parents about the need for creativity and developing our own in house service. We’re developing an outreach service, and this will be up and running by the end of April 2025.”
The committee also assured parents that many of the concerns raised in the petition are being addressed and will update the group via scrutiny meetings later this year.
News in headlines
'I'm a dad to a son, a daughter and 60 snakes' (Liverpool Echo)
Legoland trip and Nintendo Switch prizes on offer as 10 Bear sculptures wow families in Southport (Stand Up For Southport)
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What’s on this week
By Andrew Brown
Welcome to February - where there’s lots to enjoy in Southport!
This week sees some big events, including the return of the Southport Mad Dog 10k run, the Southport Jazz Festival - and 10 colourful bear sculptures have arrived in town:
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