A secure future for attraction

A couple of weeks ago The Observer published a letter from me in which I advocated installing an amusement arcade on the pier as a way of bringing in the income that it needs to secure its future.

However, another in the same edition took the opposite point of view, with the writer believing that such action would make a terrible situation even worse.

She quoted visits to the pier that she and her family had made last year, times when they enjoyed family craft sessions, looking at the Brighton University degree show, being amazed at the automatons exhibition and learning about the history of the pier.

I am pleased that they all had such a wonderful time but what this lady failed to mention was just how much she paid for all of their entertainment.

Degree show – free? Automatons exhibition – free? Pier history lesson – free? Craft sessions – free?

Perhaps she, and others like her who write to The Observer with their objections to what is happening on the pier, can explain how the owner, Sheik Abid Gulzar, can be expected to keep it up and running if many of the people using it are not paying a penny towards its upkeep, and not allowing him to earn an honest penny from his labours.

Benjamin Franklin, who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, said there were only two things certain in life: death and taxes.

Perhaps we should make that three things; death, taxes and those who will never be happy, no matter what the Sheik does or does not put on his pier.

He could, of course, clear everything off of it, grass it over and convert it into a replacement for the town’s long lost Central Cricket Ground!