Sandown Pier – Owners’ Reservations to Proposed Government Taxations (and more Economics of Amusements)
The owners of Sandown Pier have insisted that if Government proposals for increased taxation on amusement machine operations are passed, then the overall business will become unviable. These proposals affect particular types of amusement machines with a greater play cost and a greater prize value, and have been set out for the purpose of raising money to address child poverty. This, if viewed sympathetically, together creates the impression of rectifying a very genuine modern-day social issue, whilst controlling potential gambling problems; both good things; but at the considerable expense to an important hospitality tradition. The pier owners’ prediction that every pier and amusement park would financially collapse following this tax increase is stark and uncompromising; whether it is accurate is of course too early to say.
The debate regarding the worthiness and morality of amusement arcades and gaming machines can be quite contentious in the public sphere, and perhaps also influenced by cultural divides, as was dramatically escalated at Hastings Pier in 2019. This has, however, been recently countered by the supportive report included in last week’s newsletter, as endorsed by Clacton Pier.
As for Sandown Pier itself, I visited in 2021 and saw a pier which was strikingly, almost lovably, dated. It was comprehensively refurbished in 1973 and much of the seaward section seemed scarcely changed since then. Undoubtedly it is a major asset to Sandown and should be jealously protected, but is it presently the best it could be?
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Hastings Pier – An Update on Liquidation Process
The company filing history for Lions Hastings Pier Ltd was updated in early October with a progress report on the winding up of the Hastings Pier Company, as commenced in 2023. This has been widely shared on local social media and the impression is not positive.
N.B: I personally know little of the technicalities of liquidation and winding-up processes, so it would be wrong to discuss in greater detail and risk giving incorrect information. But certainly look through the post and company report for yourself.
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Read More (Report)
Bangor Pier – £40,000 Funds Presented to Council and Repair Works Begin
The Friends of Bangor Garth Pier presented their £40,000 of raised funds to Bangor City Council on Monday, allowing the final phase of the repair scheme to take place the same day. It would seem that the works relate to the repair of two under-deck sections which have not yet been attended to in the repair scheme since 2017.
See also a reproduction of the BBC TV coverage on that same Monday.
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Read More (BBC Coverage)
Clacton Pier – Winners at Tendring4Growth Awards
Clacton Pier was chosen as the winning business for Tendring4Growth’s “Headline Sponsor” Award, as chosen by enterprise and business support agency Colbea. The tourism and enterprise awards Clacton Pier have accumulated in recent years seem countless, but each is still deemed a most accomplishing win for the pier management. This certainly ratifies the pier company’s status as a leader in the amusement and hospitality industry, and are therefore well-equipped to campaign for better protection of the industry from the Government, as has been evident particularly in recent months.
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Ramsey Queen’s Pier – Update Following Stormy Weather
The scaffolding platform over Bays 9 and 10 received minor damage during Storm Amy, but gladly the pier itself received no damage whatever. The scaffolding has since been reinstated and the Queen’s Pier Restoration Trust are preparing for the delivery of the steel for these two bays – exciting news indeed.
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Clacton and Southport Piers – Halloween Programming
Two articles advertising the Halloween events programming for families. At Clacton, the ambitiousness seems to grow on each year. Just as how fashionable Georgian country estates sometimes featured a resident hermit or dwarf, for the purpose of entertaining guests, Clacton Pier will enjoy a Witch-in-Residence. Southport’s is the first such event provided in its present arrangement. This is being organised by the Silcock family and will predominantly be held in the King’s Gardens, adjacent to the pier.
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Hythe Pier – Fundraising from the 2025 “Rock the Pier” Festival
£4200 was raised from the annual music festival organised by the Hythe Pier Heritage Association. This was previously held on the pier and adjacent promenade, but was relocated this year to the nearby Ewart Recreation Ground to allow for additional space for the event. The raised funds will contribute to the restoration of one of the pier railway carriages.
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Southend Pier – Poppies and Fireworks
A seafront fireworks display will be taking place this Saturday evening at 20:00. This will be repeated on a weekly basis until the middle of November.
The Poppies on the Pier have already been mentioned many times, and here will be mentioned once again. There are now 110,000 poppies to plaster over the parapets, and will be displayed at the pier from the 5th to 16th November.
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Brighton Palace Pier – A Chinese Exhibition
Notwithstanding the present news troubles with the nation in question, an exhibition will be held at the pier on the artistic works of Ancient China; an entirely different matter worthy of interest. This is with particular relation to the Song Dynasty. The exhibition was said to have opened on Thursday, although it is unclear how long it will continue for.
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Wigan Pier – Old photographs
Some good period photographs, but of a subject which is notoriously not a pier.
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Hastings – Gulzar Plans to “Dispose Of” the Pier
The most recent news at Hastings will be a welcome relief to some; to others, it is merely the start of another chapter of uncertainty for the pier. At any rate, Sheikh Abid Gulzar’s intention to sell the pier offers at least an opportunity for its resurrection (again). Hastings Borough Council have been notified of Gulzar’s intentions to “dispose” of the property, which is now a designated Asset of Community Value. As such, the “Friends of Hastings Pier” is allowed to submit an expression of interest prior to commercial companies being given the opportunity to do the same. Certainly it would seem that the Friends are the preferred choice as new owners to Hastings Council and the local MP. Bear in mind, however, that they are presently a community group and not a formal charity or trust (a Trust was previously formed when the pier was being sold by the administrators in 2018, and was dissolved the following year after the ownership battle was over). All eyes will be on the Friends in the coming months, and hopefully they will display the “vision”, competence and resources to successfully take on what has been a rather notorious pier to manage well.
The pier matter was prominantly featured on local BBC radio on Tuesday. James Chang of the Friends was interviewed, but since this circumstance has come as a sudden surprise, was unable to give any definite answers on the sale process, fundraising, improvements to the pier, etc.
Finally, this talk of the pier returning to community ownership is all very idyllic and positive, but it must be remembered that Gulzar is still in control and has a price to name. Rumours have been circulated on what price he wishes for the sale, and it is… rather a lot more than what he paid for it in 2018 (since it is but a rumour, it will not be specified here). If it proves to be true, there is a chance that the buyers we want could be priced out. Hopefully the Friends will soon understand that Gulzar is unlikely to gift the pier at a “peppercorn” rate to allow it to pass to safe hands, as Chang pines for in his interview: he is a businessman, and a rather notorious one. But with support with the Council and MP, miracles might be worked and Hastings Pier could be brought back to life.
Now, links:
First the nominal BBC article with a basic summary of the matter.
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Then a more pointed Argus article with comments from the MP.
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The third, from Sussex Express, features among other things an elusive comment from Gulzar.
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The fourth: “Lord” Brett McLean’s take on things, attracting many Facebook comments, including a spectacular written tribute from Gulzar himself (not to be missed).
Read More (Lord Brett McLean’s Statement)
And finally, the link to the Friends of Hastings Pier Facebook page.
Read More (Friends of Hastings Pier)
Blackpool North Pier – Some Interest in the For-Sale Pier
Yes, the estate agent handling the sale of Blackpool’s North Pier has told news outlets that “there has been quite a lot of interest” in the property. Naturally, they are presently unable to say anything more, whether that be the target price or the type of potential buyers they have had interest from. So, for now, that is that.
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Clacton Pier – Old Signage Repurposed Somewhere New
The old “Clacton Pier” front signage was removed from the front of the pier buildings in 2017 as its refurbishments began. Whilst the refurbishments certainly led to a marked improvement in the appearance of the buildings (in that the inherent character of the original 1930s work was partly uncovered, after being encased in PVC weatherboarding previously), evidently some sentimentalists had complained about the old signage being removed. This had been installed in c.1998 by the Harrison Family (then-owners). Those possessing the book “Clacton Pier – the First 150 Years” by Norman Jacobs, please turn to pages 82-83 immediately. Those not possessing the same, please turn to the NPS shop immediately.
Anyway, the old sign was not thrown away, as is evident now with its reinstallation on what appears to be the South (seaward-facing) elevation of the Eastern Flank of the shoreward pier apron, on what was formerly the “Dolphinarium” and now redeveloped into remarkably jolly-looking maintenance and administration facilities.
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Worthing – Pier refurbishment – Entrance Fenced off
The Council are still working on redecking at the entrance to the pier, specifically the Western side. It seems that work of this nature has been going on for some time and has been mentioned in news again and again, but fundamentally it is still very positive news.
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Clevedon – Motorcycles leave the pier
The motorcycles have come and gone, raising about £6000 towards ongoing maintenance on the pier. The amazing outcome of this is that the pier has agreed to hold no less than six similar events, with motorcycles lining one side of the deck, every year. For those who missed it, it will be next repeated on the 13th December. The planning of these events has been with the cooperation of the pier engineer, to prevent a repetition of the unfortunate incident of October 1970. Also, the Pier Trust is presently advertising for a Lead Volunteer Archivist.
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Ramsey Queen’s Pier – Work on Bays 9 and 10 to start
The steel for bays 9-10 has been delivered at the site and work to assemble and install it will begin imminently.
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Hastings – More Coverage on the Pier Sale
A week following the initial news of Hastings Pier being available for sale, several further news articles have emerged which provide a more certain and detailed account of the matter. The article from Hastings Online Times sets out the process and timescales for the transfer of the property as an Asset of Community Value, whilst also highlighting long-standing maintenance concerns regarding the pier’s substructure.
The most informative article is from The Independent. It begins with the usual “Battle of Hastings” Rhetoric, but is remarkable for its comments by Lord Brett McClean, who suggested that Gulzar “would not be keen to sell the pier to the Friends of Hastings Pier”. That, to me, is a considerable problem. Are long-standing conflicts between the two parties (none matched by the catastrophic One Show interview of January 2019) bound to halt this process of, as the headlines suggest, “returning the pier to community ownership”? As I concluded last week, perhaps miracles will indeed be worked.
Read More (Hastings Online Times)
Read More (Independent)
Read More (Architects’ Journal)
Southport Pier – Reconstruction to Commence Early Next Year
A very useful and technical article, informed by Sefton Council’s most recent communcations. Following the offer of “up to” £20 million, the Council are presently working on agreeing the contracts for the necessary demolition, enabling and construction works. A full business case is being prepared and will be submitted to the Department of Business and Trade at the end of this year; this is required for the amount of funding to be agreed to and delivered. The work will be organised into two phases; landward and seaward (the latter being what we would understand to be the true seaside pier, at least for as long as the reclaimed land around Marine Drive has been about), and the whole is expected to be completed within 14 months.
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Bournemouth Pier – Construction Compound to be Arranged for Pier Repairs
Part of the former Winter Gardens site is to be used as a construction compound for the Council’s proposed pier repair works. This is presently being considered at planning-level, but is a positive indication of reasonable preparations being made ahead of work which has been long-awaited for. This site is anticipated to be in use from January 2026 to December 2027; that the repair works could potentially take ten months more than the imminent Southport work tells much of its complexity.
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Helensburgh Pier and the Council Transport Strategy
Argyll and Bute Council are holding a public consultation on its council-wide transportation strategy. “What of it?”, readers may retort. Helensburgh Pier Company, in fact, think very much of it with regards to their own fortune as a revitalised community pier, and are receptive to the opportunity to persuade the council to incorporate the pier as a key element of their transportation policy. With it being evident that the key offering the pier relies upon for its survival being its landing facilities, it seems that at Helensburgh the “seaside pier cycle” has returned to its origins.
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