Major update on £13m Southport Pier refurbishment

Sefton Council has issued a major update on the opening of Southport Pier, sparking hope that the town’s iconic attraction could soon be back in use.

The 160-year-old structure has been closed for safety reasons by the local authority since December 2022, after extreme weather accelerated existing issues within the pier. The council has spent more than £3m maintaining and fixing issues with Southport Pier since 2016 but announced in June that it would remain closed until major refurbishments took place.

The local authority said it would need ‘sufficient funding for major work to make it safe to re-open, and for ongoing maintenance thereafter’, estimating the full repairs works required needed could exceed £13m, with over 14 miles of ‘severely decayed’ decking and further issues with the pier’s steelwork.

'Extensive exploratory and investigative' works began in November last year which Sefton Council said would 'ultimately guide the larger refurbishment project'. Issuing a new update on Monday (April 29), Sefton Council said investigations by A E Yates have now been completed and the firm have signed a pre-construction services agreement (PCSA) with the local authority.

Chosen as the contractor to support the next phase of design and planning works required, A E Yates join Southport based RAL Architects Gardiner & Theobold, structural engineers Fairhurst, Steve A Hunt & Associates and Pegasus Planning as part of the expert project team tasked with bringing Southport Pier back to life.

Despite the good news, Sefton Council still lacks the estimated £13m funding needed to restore the pier.

Phil Porter, Chief Executive of Sefton Council, said: “Sefton Council has and will continue to invest resources and funds into the Southport Pier project and I have seen first-hand the incredible depth of planning that is being done to put us in the best possible position to begin the refurbishment once vital and necessary funding is secured.

"We continue to engage with a range of central and regional government departments and other parties over identifying funding for the refurbishment and longer-term maintenance of Southport Pier."