Canterbury City Council Leader Alex Perkins has hinted at a possible new beginning for Herne Bay Pier.

In a statement, which was greeted by cheers from his fellow councillors at a meeting of Canterbury City Council on Wednesday night, Alex announced "I will be setting up an Executive working group to oversee the Council's interests in any project to rebuild, refurbish or replace Herne Bay Pier."

After the meeting Cllr Perkins explained the Council's position. "The pier was allowed to fall into disrepair by the previous council. Eventually the bulk of its structure was demolished. We believe that there is a real future for the pier. I would hope that we might find a consortium that would come forward to spearhead and arrange funding for such a project. There are now European, Heritage and Lottery monies available for such projects. I don't want to prejudice any proposed scheme at this stage but we are looking for modern leisure facilities for local people as well as something for the tourists and of course a high-speed river link with London - after-all, that is what the pier was originally for! We would make the pier available for any such externally funded scheme which would provide a centrepiece to Herne Bay's rejuvenated seafront."

The working group, which will contain local Herne Bay councillors, will act as a point of contact for any interested parties as well as being tasked with ensuring that anyone coming forward has sufficient funding in place to complete the project.

"This is brilliant news for Herne Bay," said Local Lib Dem Cllr Ron Flaherty. "One thing we will want to make really sure of is that anyone taking this on is ready to replace our existing sports centre somewhere nearby."