What we have right now is a stunning, organic structure that is both sympathetic to the modern eye and representative of our city’s faded grandeur. It is home to up to 500,000 starlings (that’s two for every human in the city), that together create one of Britain’s most breath-taking natural phenomena every evening at sunset. How long do you think they’ll last when the cranes, electricians and carpenters move in?     In the real world, of course, all that Lottery cash and development investment needs an outlet. But if there’s one thing we’re not short of in Brighton, it’s shoreline. What about ‘restoring’ the Chain Pier in Kemptown, or how about a pier for Hove? With the imminent demise of the King Alfred leisure centre and the heritage whingers unlikely to approve the visionary Gehry towers, why not construct an entirely new pier to satisfy the commercial demand? Hell, you can even build a perfect replica of the original West Pier if you want; it’ll probably be cheaper and easier than working around the current remains anyway.     The West Pier is one of the few parts of the real Brighton that has yet to be modernised, sanitised and commercialised. It is utterly natural that, like us, our buildings should live and breathe and change and die. We should be proud of the West Pier, not ashamed of it, and that means conserving it as it is and not restoring it to some pseudo-accurate theme park mall..
	Brighton's historic West Pier - beautiful just as it is
						If you think we're talking nonsense, check out some of the official statements of the (other) West Pier Trust here:   The reality of the West Pier 'restoration'
	Links View the WPDT Guestbook - Leave your whinges here West Pier Trust - The competition. Don't trust 'em Starlings - More on our feathered friends Send us an e-mail: info@westpier.org.uk