Terraces: Imagination, innovation, flexibility - and £20m '“ are needed

Walking along Madeira Drive at the weekend, I was again saddened to see the state it is in. I've known it all my life and value it as part of our rich heritage.

It has stood since Victorian times, more than 100 years in a hostile seafront environment, with no significant investment. It's easy with hindsight to say our predecessors should have done more, but its problems are made harder to deal with by a flawed structural design that is, in itself, very hard to maintain. A lack of expansion joints made cracking likely, while its steel beams are hidden from view - encased in concrete and almost impossible to inspect or repair economically.

Costs are estimated to be in the region of £20-£30 million for a like-for-like replacement.

We've now established the structure is in such a poor state it will need completely rebuilding - and, in the main, it is unsafe.

Saying what should be done is easy and usually involves stating the obvious. The "how" is much more difficult; otherwise, you'd be reading the answer already.

The problem with The Terraces, as they stand, is that there is no way of generating income from them. That's not to say it could never be done.