Robert Byrne (Letters, October 18) asks questions about the West Pier Trust and the delayed restoration of the pier.

He would obtain all the answers to his questions if he joined the trust (cost £10).

He would receive the accounts and regular newsletters, along with our 1,500 other members.

If he cannot afford the £10, he can phone the trust (call 01273 321499) and we will answer any questions.

Readers can also consult our extensive web site (westpier.co.uk).

The trust is very open in its work.

The trust survives financially partly on membership subscriptions and donations but mainly on its commercial activities.

Its reserves would allow it to function for about six months if those sources of funding dried up.

The trust is governed by a board of 15 unpaid local people under the chairmanship of Admiral Sir Lindsay Bryson.

It has one full-time staff member (general manager) and three very part-time members.

These three, including myself, are retired local senior professionals paid on hourly rates that would be regarded as pocket-money by fellow professionals still in proper employment.

That small team has, for the past six years, sustained the probability of the restoration.

Although the pier is still a decaying hulk, we have invested nearly £2 million in securing it since 1997 and have had in place for some time agreements in principle for the up to £30 million funding necessary to achieve the restoration.

The reasons for the delay have been too many to outline in this letter. What they all boil down to is that all of the bodies involved (the trust, Brighton and Hove City Council, Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage and St Modwen plc) with to ensure that the pier is restored fully and authentically.

Prior to 1995, most of the restoration schemes put forward since the closure of the pier would have destroyed much of its fabric.

Once restored, the pier should not go into another cycle of decline. It must have commercial viability over the long term to sustain the high cost of its maintenance.

Achieving these primary objectives has been no easy ride. We were ready to achieve success last spring but the Noble Organisation - in seeking to protect its local monopoly in defiance of the wishes of the people - launched a legal challenge to the Heritage Lottery Fund that has caused yet another delay.

However, I am confident it will just be another delay. The trust does not bear these delays lightly, as any of the other parties would testify with their bruises.

-Dr Geoff Lockwood, Chief Executive, The West Pier, Kings Road, Brighton