A FIERCE critic of the i360 has had a dramatic conversion to the merits of the project and has pulled a petition calling for its £36.2 million public loan to be “reconsidered”.

Brighton resident Mike Beaton’s petition against “the strikingly out-of-character” 162-metre tower had attracted more than 2,300 signatures before he closed it.

Project Mr Beaton said he had been largely convinced of the merits of the scheme after the West Pier Trust and i360 contacted him and talked him through the project in detail.

Mr Beaton said that on learning more about the tower’s sustainability credentials, commitment to local sourcing and terms of the Brighton and Hove City Council’s loan, which could see it net £1 million a year to reinvest in the seafront, had helped changed his mind.

He said: “When I launched the petition, I did not think that a giant tower had much to do with the spirit of Brighton.

“But if it’s having locally-sourced food, is able to reuse its own energy and is the only viable option to regenerate the seafront then I start to see the argument, on the proviso they keep their promises.

“I think the problem is they still haven’t communicated the project very well, some people still don’t know it’s going up and people don’t understand why the council has approved it.”

Meanwhile the attraction’s battle with the Brighton Wheel threatens to rumble on with the Wheel team stating last week that they will take their time in launching an appeal to the rejection of planning permission for five more years.

Planning consultant Ian Coomber said the Wheel team was having a “bit of thinking time” before launching an appeal within their allocated six-month window.

The Wheel’s planning permission expires in May and its lease runs out in August.

He added: “I’m quite bullish about the appeal because we had planning officers’ support and the reasons for refusal are not that difficult for me to convince a planning inspectorate to disagree with.

“I think there would be a 90 per cent chance of success of winning the appeal but then on the same day the other announcement is more challenging because we don’t know what the agreement is with the i360.

“Any decision on the lease should be made in public by councillors not by officers.”

A spokeswoman from Brighton and Hove City Council said: “The loan to the i360 is based on there being only one viewing platform on the seafront.

“The decision to not extend the lease has been taken.”