North Somerset Council has revealed that insufficient funding could see the Birnbeck Pier restoration project abandoned.
In a statement yesterday, the council announced that a ‘major funding gap’ of £5.5m exists after the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) withdrew from the scheme in June, putting the Grade II listed pier’s future at ‘jeopardy’.
The council is due to meet on Tuesday next week to consider the financial barriers it faces and discuss the two replacement funding bids that have been proposed.
Cllr Mark Canniford, North Somerset Council’s cabinet member responsible for the Birnbeck Pier project, said: ‘Failing a new funding commitment coming forward in the next few days, it is with genuine regret and disappointment that the report going before full council will see the effective closure of the project to restore Birnbeck Pier for now.’
He added: ‘We’ll continue to seek solutions and hope to find an answer at some point in the future. The benefits of restoration are clear – new jobs and skills, stronger cultural and economic life in Weston, and pride in a heritage that belongs to us all.’
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