One vote away from restoration?
Alarmist claims were issued last week (Nov 18th) that the Pier was only “one storm away from collapse” and would cost £50m to repair. And then the heavens opened, the wind rose to gale force and the sea heaved. Surely enough to prove the point one way or another!
The Pier is of course still standing. So what’s going on? It seems that upping the ante is HBC’s response to the popular campaign that’s urging them to seize the Pier from its current owners and hand it to the Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust.
Jess Steele, the Trust’s Treasurer, said “It seems to us that council officers are trying to scare the councillors and the people of Hastings.”
The Trust say that for £4m (much of which they have been offered in grant funding) they can quite soon make the apron section safe and open it for business, and use that as a base for a piecemeal restoration in stages, generating trading income and grant funding as they go along.
HBC officers have refused to meet or engage with the Trust and are hoping instead for a rich private sector buyer to come along. The Trust say that’s like waiting for a fairy godmother
The higher sums quoted by the officers (£17m in October, which a month later had grown to £50m) were always based on commercial rather than engineering issues: a private sector operator would need to restore the whole Pier at once, fit it out, create new attractions and maximise immediate rich pickings from the Ballroom area.
The Pier Trust are certainly not a bunch of wild-eyed amateurs. They have solid engineering advice, a viable Business Plan, and 1,000 registered supporters. And they have the advantage over the private sector because they don’t need to factor in shareholders’ profits and can attract public funds for restoration and development.
But without at least a “prospect of ownership” initial funds that were on the table could be lost. They say that “the real risk to the Pier is further dithering in solving the ownership problem”.
Only HBC can start the process of compulsory purchase (CPO). So the slogan “CPO Now” really sums up what needs to be done.
Right now, the Pier’s future hangs not on the next storm but the next vote. Egged on by senior HBC officers, the Conservatives have a cast-iron party line against the Pier Trust’s proposals, but a wafer-thin hold over the Council.
And now we have a by-election in St Helen’s ward on December 10th.
The Trust considered running a Pier candidate, but have opted for a third party campaign, so make the future of the Pier a key voting issue. And they are asking the voters of St Helens to press candidates to pledge their support for the Trust’s way forward for the Pier and to VOTE PIER.
So far the Labour candidate Michael Ward has explicitly supported the CPO plan. So does Lib Dem candidate John Tunbridge. The Tory candidate Simon Corello has the endorsement of Matthew Lock — who is adamantly against the Pier Trust’s proposals.
Wouldn’t it be great if Labour and the Lib Dems united to save the Pier and stood only the candidate with the best chance of swinging the balance of power in the Council ahead of the May elections?
25.11.09
If you’re enjoying HOT and would like us to continue providing fair and balanced reporting on local matters please consider making a donation. Click here to open our PayPal donation link. Thank you for your continued support!
