Why die the Noble organisation have the West Pier burned down?

Question

(in Brighton)

Answer 1

In all honesty it was the best thing that could of happened to it. You can't honestly say that it wasn't an eyesore and who knows something decent might take its place.

Answer 2

I am not aware that there is any evidence that the Noble Brothers conspired in the West Pier arson but I would welcome any links to any evidence of suspicious circumstances - when the ownership transferred to the West Pier Trust and the amount of the insurance pay out.

If insured, the West Pier represented an asset that could not be realised unless destroyed by a catastrophe but in those circumstances I imagine that English Heritage would have insisted the insurance proceeds were applied to the reconstruction.

Answer 3

The remaining rusty structure is more of an eyesore than the glistening white ballroom roof ever was. Intentional arson is about as likely as the Queen having knocked off Diana, IMHO. Crazy thing in either case is, it's going to cost nearly as much to completely remove the pier structure that remains as it would've to rebuild the pre-fire pier but, given that it's taken the local council and English Heritage nearly 20 years to get round to refurbishing up the nearby bandstand (work still hasn't started on this, BTW), that was never going to happen.

Answer 4

Most things come down to the same thing...MONEY.

Answer 5

The thing had become an eyesore, but the "conservationists" would not let go. Economically the West Pier had been a dead duck since the 1960's. Burning it was the only way to defeat the fanatics on something that was worthless. Sad, isn't it?