It was announced last week that part of Weston-super-Mare’s crumbling Birnbeck Pier is set to be demolished in the future.

The news has been met with a mixed reaction from Streetlife users, with many users believing the ‘heritage’ of the site may be lost when the demolition occurs.

CNM Estates, which owns Birnbeck Pier, has appointed a consultancy firm to begin discussions with Historic England and North Somerset Council regarding the demolition of the north jetty.

However, one user believes the historic pier should be restored in some way.

Jonathan Miles questioned the decision and said: “Why can’t it be restored? It’s a historic building.

“Do we want to keep heritage in the area or not?”

This question was raised a number of times, with Marcy Kingsley reacting to the news on Twitter.

He said: “No, it should not be demolished. It should be rebuilt and that goes for the whole pier.”

Simon Robertshaw is Historic England’s inspector of historic buildings and areas for Somerset.

He said: “The most recent discussion was at the end of last week with a firm called Indigo.

“It was called to discuss the application, which will be coming in, for demolition of the north landing.”

The pier has been the subject of much debate since last year.

Heavy storms left the jetty partially collapsed alongside the main pier. The plans are now to preserve the rest of the pier, while removing the decaying jetty.

However, David Bower said it should not be just the jetty that is destroyed.

Reacting to a post on Facebook, he said: “Time to demolish the entire thing, remove the rubble and let it go back to nature.”

Streetlife user Sandra agreed with this view and said: “It’s about time something was done with Birnbeck Pier – maybe demolish everything apart from the lifeboat station.

“I was at Birnbeck earlier this week and it’s a real eyesore. The whole area around there looks scruffy and is crying out for redevelopment.

“Maybe some nice gardens with a visitor centre, given the history of the pier, would be preferable to the tatty mess it is now.”

The project manager for the Birnbeck Regeneration Trust joined the discussion and said: “We hope with the support of the public this will become a reality to save our historic pier.”

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