NORTH Somerset Council will be considering the next steps of Birnbeck Pier's restoration in a "pivotal" meeting.

The council’s Executive committee will consider proposals for construction contracts to deliver restoration work for the project at a meeting on Wednesday, February 7.

This will include work to structures on the island, as well as landside buildings and public safety work.

The contracts are collectively valued at £7m.

The restoration is made possible due to funding from the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund, National Heritage Memorial Fund, The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England.

Councillor Mark Canniford, the council's executive member responsible for placemaking, said: “A plan going to a council meeting may on the surface sound like a regular occurrence, but I can’t understate the importance of this moment.

"We’re at a pivotal point in the successful delivery of this large, complex and multi-funded restoration project.

“We need to be able to get the right contractors on board to work alongside us and our funding partners to deliver the project, some of it extremely specialist, in a timely manner, to a good standard and of course on budget.”

The contracts include:

  • Contracts for work required to project public safety, as well as the land, buildings and structures before the main restoration work (up to £575k). This includes asbestos removal, repair of the sea walls, safety work to the rock face at the pier head. It is possible that this may also include work to buildings on the island including the clocktower and the 1888 boathouse.
  • Restoration and renovation work funded by the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund (up to £3.9m). This includes restoration of the landside buildings and creating space for a café and other visitor facilities, such as toilets.
  • Restoration and renovation work funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund (around £4.5m). The would only go ahead if a future grant of £4.2m is awarded: work to the pavilion and other structures on the island, restoration of turnstiles and further visitor improvements. The National Lottery Heritage Fund has already awarded an initial grant of £234,761 to be spent on the development phase of the project.