It is a shame Tim Ridgway didn’t speak to the West Pier Trust, look at its website or spend a minute or two reading posts on its Facebook page before writing his article about the West Pier (The Argus, August 19).

He would have learnt that the trust was awarded a £14.2-million Heritage Lottery Fund grant in 1998, had secured matching funding and was on the brink of restoring the pier (after clearing multiple legal challenges from the owners of the Palace Pier) when it was destroyed by arson in 2003 and the grant withdrawn in 2004.

The i360 project, which was welcomed by the city as a beautiful, innovative and appropriate attraction, will be a great asset, create many jobs and regenerate the local area.

The Trust and its partners Marks Barfield Architects and Brighton and Hove City Council, are completely confident it will be delivered.

The Trust has never given up on the pier and hopes the i360 will enable it to secure an exciting future. As for the popular fragment sales, the trust needed to dispose of damaged material and pieces that were surplus to requirements, giving the public the opportunity to buy a piece of the pier while raising funds towards the trust’s visitor centre. Hundreds of tons of original material remain, including complete kiosks and key pieces of the pier.

Rachel Clark, the West Pier Trust