The decades-long fight to save a Victorian pier from the sea

Birnbeck Pier, in Weston-super-Mare, has become increasingly rundown in recent years

On Tuesday, councillors looked set to cancel the restoration of a crumbling Victorian pier when news broke of some 11th hour funding from the National Lottery Heritage fund.

More than 30 years after it closed, Birnbeck Pier had been saved.

In its heyday, the 19th Century pier hosted funfair rides and drew crowds of visitors who stopped off in Weston-super-Mare on pleasure steamers.

It opened in 1867 and was visited by millions before safety concerns saw the pier closed in 1994.

Since then it has been battered by storms, partially collapsed into the sea, and become too unsafe for the former resident RNLI lifeboat crews to use.

After multiple failed attempts, the latest funding announcement means Birnbeck's restoration is set to go ahead - but it has been a long journey to get to this moment.

Birnbeck Pier has been closed since 1994 and fallen into a state of disrepair

Birnbeck - also known locally as 'The Old Pier' - is the only pier in the UK to link to an island, connecting Weston-super-Mare with a small, rocky piece of land known as Birnbeck Island.

The pier was a popular attraction until it was taken over during World War Two and used for weapons testing.

When it reopened after the war, visitor numbers declined and the last steamer visited Birnbeck Island in 1979.

Plans to restore the pier stretch back to 2006, when it was purchased by Urban Splash which launched a competition to redevelop it a year later.

But by 2011, the company said it could no longer afford the restoration and shelved the plans.

At the time, the Friends of the Old Pier society called it "a complete and utter disaster", as no work had taken place.

Two years later, the RNLI closed its base on Birnbeck Island after 131 years, saying it had become too dangerous for their crews to get out there using the temporary walkway it had installed.

Birnbeck Island was only visited by RNLI crews after the pier closed to the public in 1994

In October 2014, the pier was sold to CNM Estates, with owner Wahid Samady publishing plans for a hotel, homes and shops on Birnbeck Island.

Mr Samady told the BBC in January 2015 that repairs to the pier had to be linked to profitable commercial developments of the island.

But local councillors were sceptical of the plans, with the then-deputy leader of the council Elfan Ap Rees saying at the time: "Up to now, he hasn't come up with a viable solution for the local residents."

Campaigns launched

By 2015, the Victorian Society featured the pier in its top 10 most endangered buildings in England and Wales.

Comedian John Cleese, who was born in Weston-super-Mare, and EastEnders actor Timothy West backed a campaign to save it, but winter storms in December 2015 severely damaged the pier's landing jetty, which partially collapsed into the sea.

The council later gave permission for the deck and legs to be removed as it was too damaged to repair.

Birnbeck Island's derelict state has attracted several curious visitors over the years

In September 2019, the council served CNM Estates with a repair notice, saying it had "exhausted all other options" trying to get the company to commit to fixing the pier.

By January 2020, the council said no work had been carried out and it was considering buying the pier, with the view of having the RNLI move back to the island.

In February, the council voted to start a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to take it over, with the then-leader Don Davies offering CNM Estates a token £1 to avoid the CPO purchase.

"I'll deliver the £1 coin personally if it makes it any quicker," said Mr Davies.

The order was approved in July 2020. CNM Estates applied for planning permission to refurbish the island in August, but nothing came of the plans.

High court battle

Meanwhile, CNM Estates was involved in a High Court dispute, and a High Court judge ordered Mr Samady to find a new owner by January 2021.

The pier was sold to Birnbeck Holdings Ltd, a new company led by Mr Samady, which pledged to begin repair works "without the hindrance of historical litigation".

After a court appeal against the CPO was withdrawn in November 2022, Birnbeck Holdings sold the pier to the council in July 2023, a month before the hearing on the CPO was due to take place.

New plans

The council had secured more than £20m for the project from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the government, the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Historic England.

In September 2024, the RNLI published plans to return to Birnbeck Island, and offered £5m towards the project. However, in June 2025, the lifeboat charity pulled out of the scheme.

The RNLI's chief executive Peter Sparkes said the pier would present an "unacceptable ongoing financial risk" for the charity.

The council faced having to plug the shortfall itself, and a report earlier this month recommended the restoration plans should be scrapped, as the amount needed was too much for it to afford.

But just as councillors were about to vote to abandon the restoration, the National Lottery stepped up to provide the money.

Councillor Mike Bell, leader of the council, said: "We had a setback earlier in the summer, but we promised to work right up until the eleventh hour to try to find a solution, and I am delighted our efforts have paid off.

"We are incredibly grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

"Put simply, this lifeline has saved the day. Without it, the future of Birnbeck Pier would have been in real danger."