Decision on seafront bandstand delayed

3:13pm Wednesday 25th April 2007

Comments (4)   Have your say »

A decision to restore a historic seafront bandstand left decaying for more than 30 years has been delayed again.

September is the earliest Brighton and Hove Council will know whether its application for a lottery grant to restore the grade II listed Birdcage Bandstand on Brighton seafront has been successful - three months later than had been expected.

Councillor Gill Mitchell, chairwoman of the environment committee, said: "We were really expecting a decision in June. All I can say is if the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) feel they cannot come to a decision until September we are as disappointed as everybody else.

"Meanwhile there are things we are doing currently. We are working on the necessary planning permission and also on the listed building consent."

Brighton and Hove City Council originally applied for a £987,360 grant which was rejected in June last year. The council resubmitted a new bid in February this year to try to get the project back on track.

It includes a link-bridge from Kingsway to the upper level of the two-storey bandstand, built in the 1880s, and a cafe in the lower level.

This time around the council is prepared to stump up more money for the project with £300,000 set aside with an application for £500,000 from the HLF.

A spokeswoman for the HLF said: "The original application was rejected because it didn't adequately meet HLF's priorities and I really can't go into any more details because of the resubmitted application."

She added an early decision was not possible on a project of this size and that at least six months consideration was the norm.

Coun Mitchell was keen to emphasise the council does have a plan B if the application was unsuccessful.

She said: "If it is a no decision the council will look at working closely with private sector investors. We know, as do HLF, that there is tremendous interest in getting the bandstand functioning for the people again.

"We have committed as much to the bandstand as we have to the rest of the seafront with the restoration of the shelters and the lift at Madeira Drive."

The continuing saga over the restoration has prompted reaction from residents frustrated with the delay and is often a topic of much discussion on the letters page of The Argus.

Student mental health nurse Susie Rowson, 25, of Hill House, Hove, said: "Something needs to be done about the bandstand sooner rather than later. With summer coming and the thousands of visitors that follow, having such an eyesore will no doubt do terrible damage to the image of the city."

Do you think the continuing delays are damaging the image of Brighton and Hove? Leave your comments below.