The owners of Silcock Leisure Group in Southport have hailed the announcement of funding to restore and reopen Southport Pier as a huge boost to everyone in the town.
Silcock Leisure Group operates the historic Carousel in front of the Pier entrance – the ‘Golden Gallopers’ were built in 1901 and were last year voted as the fourth best seaside attraction in the UK.
The family-run firm, which has been entertaining families for six generations, also runs Silcock’s Pier Family Restaurant and Silcock’s Funland on the Pier Forecourt.
They have been part of a real community effort calling for Southport Pier to be reopened, and hosted a packed public meeting earlier this year looking at ways how it could happen.
It followed a poll on Stand Up For Southport in January which showed that 97% of local residents wanted the Pier to reopen, from over 1,700 respondents.
Silcock Leisure Group Operations Manager Serena Silcock-Prince said:
“We are absolutely thrilled! It’s just the best news we could have wished for.
“It is an amazing boost for all the families and all the businesses here in Southport and across the Liverpool City Region.
“It’s wonderful news. Everyone in Southport will be celebrating! We’re all so elated.
“This is exactly what everyone in Southport wanted and deserved.
“Southport Pier is the main attraction in our town and it has been for so many generations, going back to when it first opened in 1860.
“Since then, it has attracted many millions of visitors of all ages who love walking along the Pier and looking out to sea, breathing in that fresh sea air.
“People come from all over the UK to walk along Southport Pier. We’ve missed it!
“For health, wellness and wellbeing, there is nothing better than a walk along Southport Pier.
“It has had a significant impact on so many businesses in Southport since it closed in 2022.
“It is so iconic. It is the best pier in Britain, the oldest iron pier in the country, and the second longest pier.
“Southport Pier is a unique part of our national heritage and we are overjoyed to hear that it will be able to reopen once repairs are complete.
“In the meantime, there are so many reasons for people to come and visit Southport with a huge array of attractions and events. You’ll never get bored in Southport!
“We’d like to say a huge thank you to the Government for agreeing to provide the funding to restore Southport Pier, and to Southport MP Patrick Hurley and his team for a huge amount of hard work, perseverance and dedication to making this happen.
“We’d also like to thank Sefton Council, Sefton Leader Cllr Marion Atkinson and RAL Architects for carrying out the survey on the Pier and then drawing up a full planning application and securing Listed Building Consent, so the scheme would be fully ready to go when the opportunity arose to seek funding.
“We’re also very grateful to the huge and constant support shown for the restoration of the Pier by the local community in Southport.
“This has been a real town effort! When we held our Southport Pier public meeting earlier this year, we quickly ran out of chairs.
“Everyone wanted to help. The room was packed and there was so much passion from people who wanted our Pier back open again.
“It is a wonderful, positive thing to happen for Southport and we’re so glad the Government has listened so carefully to what people in our town were so desperate to see.
“It follows on from yesterday’s announcement of the £10million to create a new Town Hall gardens in the memory of the three girls, and also comes at a time when BBC Radio Merseyside has been spending all week in Southport broadcasting their popular Breakfast show to listeners across the Liverpool city region.
“This has been the most amazing week for Southport – it’s an historic time for our town.
“We can look to the future now with a real sense of excitement.”
Speaking in Parliament today, Chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged that the Government will establish a Growth Mission Fund to “expedite local projects that are important for growth but have been forgotten”, such as Southport Pier, Kirkcaldy’s seafront and High Street, and a new sports quarter in Peterborough.
Southport MP Patrick Hurley said:
“The condition and closure of the Pier has been a huge source of concern for everyone in Southport over the last two and a half years, and the whole community shares the desire for the Pier to be reopened.
“That is why I am thrilled to tell you that we now have government backing for the restoration of Southport Pier thanks to the Growth Mission Fund announced today in Labour’s Spending Review.”
Cllr Marion Atkinson, Leader of Sefton Council, said:
“We welcome the Chancellor referencing Southport Pier today as part of the spending review.
“As a Council we have said we are ready to go as soon as funding is secured and we look forward to finding out more detail about the Growth Mission Fund in due course.”
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