John Major is quite right to call the present state of the West Pier "a travesty" (The Argus, December 4).

It stands as a testimony to the inaction of public authorities. Among many reasons for the failure to restore the pier, two stand out.

The first is that the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) changed the terms of its offer of a £15m contribution in 1998.

The HLF and the Trust had been working for three years on a detailed plan for the staged restoration:

Stage One: the sub-structure restored with HLF money. Stage Two: the Trust complete the restoration of the pier. Stage Three: building the necessary off-pier enabling development.

The HLF agreed that plan but at the last minute insisted on the private sector investing 25 per cent of the sub-structure costs.

No private sector partner would invest that much - circa £3m - without ensuring the whole plan would proceed (ie obtain planning permission). Thus the notion of staging was undermined and action put off.

I am quite clear that if the HLF had not insisted on that change in 1998 the West Pier would now stand fully restored.

The second reason is the combination of delays, damage and cost increases resulting from sustained opposition by the owners of the Palace Pier and, importantly, the handling of that opposition by public authorities.

Despite the warnings of the Trust and the engineers about the delicate state of the pier, the lawyers and bureaucrats pursued their processes with a timeless disregard for the effects of nature on an aging, sea-based heritage jewel.

There are other contributory reasons but those two are the crucial explanations for the failure to achieve the restoration.

However, do not write off the West Pier yet. The old lady will not go quietly into the sea. She might not get restored fully but her genes and some of her jewels can live on in her home site.

-Dr Geoff Lockwood, chief executive The West Pier Trust, The West Pier, King's Road, Brighton