I'm back in the online world (for a while, at least) and have been catching up with the goings on in the local area. I was interested to see that a Public Meeting to discuss the future of the Pier has been called for Friday the 22nd January 2010 at 6pm in the Town Hall, Colwyn Bay. I understand from
Cllr. Oddy's blog that the meeting will be chaired by David Jones MP and will be a '
full and open debate about the Pier’s future'.
As it stands, the future for the pier is not looking terribly bright. It is in a very poor state of repair and I'm struggling to see where the money could come from to undertake a comprehensive renovation.
Let's look at it more closely ....
Pier Structure - Most, if not all, of the piles are perfectly sound. Many of the tie-bars
and struts that 'lock' the piles together are damaged or missing. The iron girders
that rest on the piles and support the decking and buildings are in varying states of repair - whilst the ones underneath the shoreward building are fairly sound, the outer ones underneath the main Pavilion building are in a very poor state, the inner ones not so bad. The girders on the newer section of pier neck (from the buildings to the pier head) are in fairly good condition.
Deck Level & Handrails - The decking around the shoreward building is in a fair state of repair. The decking around the Pavilion building requires some repair/replacement of planking. The decking on the section of pier from the buildings to the pier head is all in need of replacement. The cast iron decorative handrails are, themselves, in fairly good condition but the wooden supports they are attached are badly rotted in places (see above photo) and will require extensive replacement.
Shoreward Building - This building was renovated internally by the current owner and comprises a former Fishing Tackle Shop, Amusements, Cafe & Bar. The main current concerns with this building are roof leaks and the exterior appearance - it requires a complete repaint and tidying up/removal of the various additions/alterations over the years to give a more pleasing appearance.
Main Pavilion Building - a good friend of mine is fond of describing this building as looking like a '
shanty town at sea'. It's not hard to see why; it is in an appalling state of repair externally and would require extensive work to make it look acceptable again. Internally, it is far better looking but, again, requires extensive work.
My Conclusion - Hmmm...it's a tough one. Who in the private sector would want to throw millions at renovating the entire pier when it is extremely unlikely that the profits earned would repay their investment? A parallel can be drawn with Hastings Pier - the brother/sister that own the Grand Pier, Weston Super Mare were recently asked to look at Hastings Pier with a view to buying it and restoring it. Their view was that it was not economically feasible to do so, given its state of repair (which is similar to Colwyn Bay Pier).
Therefore, I feel the only realistic option may be to concentrate scarce resources on reopening the section of pier that houses the two buildings (the original 1900 structure) and effectively abandoning the rest of it unless the funding can be found at some point in the future. Given that a commercial partner with money to invest has not materialised in the last few years, it seems unlikely that one will appear now.
It may therefore be that the only choice is for the Owner to either hand the pier over to a charitable trust or let it fall into the sea.
The original Victoria Pier in 1900
(Photo Credit)
.jpeg)
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