THE big news this week must be that Sheikh-Abid Gulzar has bought Eastbourne Pier.
I work very closely with Mr G - as I call him - and probably know him better than most. 
Controversial yes, always speaks his mind yes, sometimes says too much yes.
But deep down he cares - he cares about our great town and its people. And he will care about Eastbourne Pier more than anyone else, of that there is no doubt.
He may have upset the council in the past, and indeed too Natural England over his development on farmland at Pevensey, but he always does what he thinks is for the best.
I imagine the chiefs at Eastbourne Borough Council might have stirred a little when they heard the escalating rumours over the last couple of weeks, but it's true, reality is Mr G has control of the pier.
The pier - arguably our greatest asset, our biggest tourist attraction - and Mr G wants to make it great again, and I think he will. He wants it to be the best pier in the country - and why not.
We can all think back to last summer and that terrible fire, but the truth is our pier was long in decline before the blaze. And then we had David Cameron and George Osborne come into town offering £2 million of government cash to help Eastbourne in the wake of the blaze.
We know that was electioneering and to an extent it worked, Caroline beat Stephen and was duly elected.
But I have long thought that the £2 million should be spent on the pier itself, and ways of attracting new customers and new revenue, not about trying to attract Rick Stein to open up at the Wish Tower.
The £2 million gesture was, and still is, a joke to me, but for Mr G he couldn't be more serious. He already owns two hotels along the seafront, another one in Hailsham and a children's nursery near to the Fisherman's Club.
Let me be clear. Mr G is 100 percent serious about Eastbourne Pier. His commitment to the project is total, and he wants it to become the hub of the community. His vision is for the pier to be the talk of the town - and it will be.
Will there be Lions on the pier? Of course there will be, if he gets planning permission, and why not. 
But it's about more than that, it's about creating and developing a pier that will be profitable, that will bring in tourists from across the country, and a pier with personality.
Mr G will bring that personality. You may not agree with everything that he will do, but this is a new project for him, a new world for Mr G at the age of 70.
Speaking with him on Wednesday afternoon, he is excited, he knows the potential is massive, and he knows the importance of taking the town's people with him on this latest project.
He has big plans but as we said, one at a time, and slowly, slowly, Rome wasn't built in a day.
He is already thinking about how the pier can play a bigger role in Christmas time around Eastbourne, and how he can play a part in helping the disabled and less privileged.
This summer he hosted two charity BBQs at the Boship Lions Farm Hotel - which I was privileged to organise - and each time they were amazingly well supported.
That support for less able people will continue under Mr G at the pier. Make no mistake about that.
And he is serious about making our pier the very BEST. We should all applaud him for that.

Peter Lindsey