THE man behind the Bognor Regis Birdman contest believes it's 'full steam ahead' after a planning meeting on the event.
Barry Jones met with an Arun Safety Advisory Group to discuss the preparations surround the eagerly-awaited return of the event after a three-year absence.
Concerns had been raised by former members of the organising trust over the height of the platforms allegedly not being suitable for the contest after the pier was shortened in 2008.
But Mr Jones believes the considerable research from both Southampton and Bangor universities in gathering safety data has ensured that the summer spectacular will once again return home this year.
Plans acceptedHe said: "The meeting went well on Friday (January 29).
"There was general acceptance of our plans, despite one query being raised over the university findings from the research done by Southampton and Bangor oceanography departments.
"One piece of safety work we do need to complete is marking of the pillars on the pier to show that the water height is sufficient, which we will be doing when we get a suitable tide.
"There are always at least three of these meetings before each event and we want to discuss crowd control issues with police at the next one, as they were not able to make the meeting last week.
safety issues"But we have no reason to believe we will not be staging the event in Bognor again this year. We've already taken our first entry application fee and we are expecting plenty more," said Mr Jones.
A spokesperson for Arun District Council said: "We hope the advisory group helped steer the organisers in the right direction in regards to safety issues."
The next safety meeting for the Bognor Birdman is due to take place in the Spring.
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