From what i found out there are a few things off here...
Colwyn Bay Pier (Victoria Pier) falling (pardon the pun) into the hands of CCBC may not be the good news we all think it is. Shore Thing, the “front-men” for the Council have come up with some ideas that look good on paper but, in reality, may not work.
Call me a sceptic but unless the Pier hits the ground running as a commercial venture then it is doomed to failure and, if that happens, it will be the local tax payer who is burdened with the cost of it and that could dwindle on for many years.If the council have to wait another year for Shore Ting to get funding all the council would have to do would be to keep it up to the elf n safety needs which i am sure they could claw back that tax payers money by opening something up at the front part of the pier? Then they would have have done more for the pier for not that much money in the long run then anybody else has done in the past 3 years!!! Shouldn't the local council support the redevelopment of a tourist attraction for a social enterprise rather than some of the stupid things they waste our money on?
I remain convinced that the only viable way for the Pier to succeed is in the hands of a private company, if that company is a gaming company and they want to open a casino then so be it, let them. If Shore Thing remain in control and only partially refit the pier, as and when funding is available then we are back to the way that Steve Hunt was trying to do it, building it up when he could afford it.
Unfortunately many funding bodies would not be available if it was in the hands of a private business and Shore Thing would not be able to go after grants or funding on their behalf. It took so long to apply to the HLF because of the ownership issue. If they didn't own it then they couldn't apply for funding.
I was there when the original “Shore Thing” was set up, their main criteria was that no Councillors were to be involved with its workings yet I know of a couple who are skirting around it and, in my opinion, pulling the strings.....the Council remain in control but at arms length so, with running costs and maintenance estimated at over £50,000 a year who do you think will end up paying for it?That seems strange. Shore Thing was only made at the beginning of last year independently?
The community group was formed after the 1st public meeting and before the 2nd public meeting and vowed there would be no councillor in there group so had no voting rights as this was how the 'friends of the pier' fell apart...
They went to the 2nd meeting in St Pauls after registering as a community group and all stood up as one community group when asked by (MP) Jones is anybody wanted to join the steering group. After that meeting there was no way for the steering group to meet together as 'data protection' stopped each member from finding out who the other members were to gather together. The elections came about and off he went to Cardiff.
The pier pressure group carried along on their own until after a good six months or so the group got hold of david jones and got a meeting to which he invited the few people that had stood up along side the group in St Pauls. They invited these people to join their community group as it was obvious they were not going to get any help. Hence at the beginning of 2011 Shore Thing was set up with some of the community group members with Wales CoOpCentre when they (Victoria Pier Pressure Group) learned that they will be better off getting grants and funding as a social enterprise.
Please God....let me be wrong!I hope so as well to be honest!
The fact is that if the pier got the the completely unsafe shape of being beyond repair and if RPG still had the pier the council would eventually have to pay £1.2 million to knock it down. If crown estates still had the pier the council would still have to pay to knock it down and if Steve Hunt got it back he couldn't raise enough money or be able to bid for funding he wouldn't be able to afford to knock it down so..... yup tax payers would still have to pay to knock it down.
I really do think that as crown estates have signed over the pier by being bought by the Welsh assembly government and put in the care of the council then i am sure spending £50k or whatever to ensure the front is safe is a viable option and a chance to raise funds with Shore Thing and the public, raise awareness and explain to everybody that... hey funding is out there and we just have to fight for it, we all pay into European pots and lottery tickets so hell fire we want some of it back for the community! As
Fester said if the front was open that's one cup of decent coffee for a quid... north Wales get's 8million tourists a year.... 49,999 cups to go and the £50k takes care of its self! (i'm an optimist lol)
The fact the Heritage Lottery Fund have said to the papers it wants to meet up with the council after the elections has to be a good sign as if the proposal was pants then they wouldn't bother! They open new funding pots each year and Shore Thing just managed to jump on the back of last years. This years pot will start at some point soon i would think?
Yet again it is back to waiting till after the elections (oh and Steve Hunts last court appeal coincidentally) before anything can be done.
Hmmm i feel like i'm ranting but honestly i am not
SCMP