Council to stump up to save bandstand

4:21am Wednesday 27th June 2007

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A seafront bandstand left derelict for three decades will be restored to its former glory, The Argus can reveal.

Conservative councillor Geoffrey Theobald has drawn up plans to have the dilapidated Brighton bandstand brought back into use by next summer.

A bid had been submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund for £500,000, with £300,000 set aside in the council coffers.

But the application has faced a series of setbacks and Brighton and Hove City Council has now decided to fund the project itself including a cafe under the bandstand.

Coun Theobald said he did not want to wait any longer as the cost of restoration mounted after each storm.

He said: "It is much better for us to do it ourselves so we can do it as quickly as possible.

"It is a blight on our seafront and there are so many good things about this city.

"The restoration is very important for our visitors and tourists who come from all over the world to Brighton and Hove's seafront.

"We have already gone though the problems with the West Pier and I do not want to take a risk with the bandstand."

A report will be submitted to the council's policy and resources meeting in July and while the final pricing has yet to have drawn up, if approved, it will cost in the region of £500,000.

Coun Theobald said funding the scheme would require savings from elsewhere in the budget given the council's tight finances but he would not reveal where the money would come from.

Councillor Gill Mitchell, the leader of the Labour opposition, had been working on the Birdcage bandstand restoration before the election.

She said she had become frustrated with the heritage lottery process but that a plan B, at no cost to the taxpayer, had been devised which would have seen a private partner renovate the structure in exchange for the rent of a cafe below.

Gill Mitchell said: "What I find very strange is that we spent all this time creating two approaches - we have got eight weeks to wait before the lottery decision and at the same time we have put together what I thought was a really good plans B - and now the Conservatives are looking to finding the money but not saying where it is from."

Patricia Horne, the chairwoman of the Save our Brighton Bandstand, said the group would continue to raise money which could be invested in the bandstand or other seafront improvements She said: "I am delighted with the news.

"I have got a reasonable amount of trust in the new Conservative group but we need to keep the pressure up and make sure it is done to the highest standard with a state-of-the-art bandstand."