Poll

What should be done with Colwyn Bay Pier?

Demolish it
Carry out basic renovation (spend up to £5m)
Carry out comprehensive renovation, including all buildings (spend up to £10m)

Author Topic: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier  (Read 385789 times)

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Offline viv

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #360 on: May 25, 2012, 06:26:46 pm »
All buildings need maintaining and they need to generate enough income to pay for that. With only a short season and even an all year round restaurant there is competition from other eating places and there is no guarantee of sustainability.

My idea was to refurbish the gates to the pier and put in a turnstile paying facility so that everyone going onto the pier - be that fishing people, people wanting to sit in the sun or just walk along a much shorter pier would all contribute to the long term maintenance. Any wrought iron rails that were superfluous due to shortening the pier, would be used to replace those that have deteriorated. Volunteers or Community payback could do the repainting.

I was involved many years ago as a student in Bangor in refurbishing that pier and we collected £1 per plank, also repainted it, so hoped to replicate this with regard to the sad sight that used to be our lovely pier.

I wouldn't like to think that we created something that was not sustainable and that our children and grandchildren would be facing the same problems in another 50 years!

Offline dwsi

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #361 on: May 29, 2012, 09:24:48 am »
Twitter / theJeremyVine: Colwyn Bay pier, thriving http://bit.ly/JKUZCa


Offline SCMP

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #362 on: May 29, 2012, 04:48:14 pm »

I was involved many years ago as a student in Bangor in refurbishing that pier and we collected £1 per plank, also repainted it, so hoped to replicate this with regard to the sad sight that used to be our lovely pier.

I wouldn't like to think that we created something that was not sustainable and that our children and grandchildren would be facing the same problems in another 50 years!

Unfortunately after Bangot pier opened and they had their honesty box type situation the local council etc have not spent any money on maintainance since it opened or at least not much. This left them with a million pound 'saved up' and needing another 2 million to get enough to do the works needed.

I think the Shore Thing documents had about £100k a year put aside in earnings to go into a maintanance pot to use each year, might have to be more but i don't know would be enough. This is what they would need just to maintain the pier basically so all other revenue earned would go back into the pier and maintanance after costs.

SCMP

Offline DaveR

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #363 on: July 06, 2012, 11:06:31 am »
COUNCIL workers are making Colwyn Bay’s derelict pier safer while a court case to decide its ownership has been pushed back to next month.

Meanshile Conwy County Council and community group Shore Thing say they still plan to resubmit a bid for Heritage Lottery funding to revamp the Grade II listed Victoria Pier later this year.

Conwy representatives must travel to Cardiff County Court on August 17 because former owner Steve Hunt is again challenging the ownership.

His family has poured tens of thousands of pounds into the structure and claim it was not the authority’s to buy when it was purchased from holding body the Crown Estate in the spring.

Mr Hunt claims the pier should have reverted back to him as it failed to sell in three years following him being bankrupted by a dispute over business rates with the authority.

Mr Hunt had an ownership hearing case adjourned at Mold County Court in April.

A judge sent the case to Cardiff to be heard this month but now it has been deferred to August. The reason is unclear.

Even so, Conwy Council said they are ploughing ahead with safety works to secure the site.

A spokeswoman said: “In the 14 weeks since Conwy County Council took ownership of the pier in Colwyn Bay, work has been taking place on a variety of health and safety issues and on safeguarding the listed building.

“The council’s property service has co-ordinated a team of experts including surveyors, environmental health and conservation officers and harbour staff.

“Work has been carried out to make safe access routes into the various buildings and to ensure safety is maintained on the structure and on the surrounding area and beach.

“A significant amount of rubbish has been cleared from the site and efforts are being made to safeguard the important listed aspects of the pier, which are vulnerable.”

Conwy had a £4.9m bid to Heritage Lottery Fund rejected in April. But council chiefs held talks with HLF officials in May.

A council statement added: “In May, Conwy Council and Shore Thing had a very positive meeting with Heritage Lottery Fund representatives about the grant application. The council and Shore Thing intend to re-submit a bid for funding to Heritage Lottery Fund later this year. Shore Thing and the Pier Pressure Group are pursuing projects to collect historical information that can be used for heritage interpretation in the future and will be looking to recruit volunteers and publicise sponsorship opportunities as soon as possible.”

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2012/07/06/fresh-lottery-bid-for-colwyn-bay-pier-revamp-55578-31335033/

Offline DaveR

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #364 on: July 07, 2012, 09:03:19 pm »
A spokeswoman said: “A significant amount of rubbish has been cleared from the site and efforts are being made to safeguard the important listed aspects of the pier, which are vulnerable.”

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2012/07/06/fresh-lottery-bid-for-colwyn-bay-pier-revamp-55578-31335033/
Yeh, looks like it:  :laugh:

Offline dwsi

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #365 on: August 17, 2012, 01:03:16 pm »
Via Chris Dearden on Twitter :-

Further adjournment in Colwyn Bay pier ownership case as judge asks both sides to try and sort it out between themselves.

Offline Michael

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #366 on: August 17, 2012, 05:34:40 pm »
I find this impossible to believe. Talk about Alice in Wonderland. Why could not someone, anyone, from Judge downwards, suggested this around six/twelve /18/24 months ago? And now we hear mr hunts mother arrives on the scene, with threats of further proceedings. It's about time Colwyn Bay residents took it onto themselves to tell her and her son to carry on-- but from now on all legal costs are paid by you And UP Front. Mike

Offline DaveR

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #367 on: August 17, 2012, 09:07:11 pm »
Mr. Hunt has lost his claim to be owner of Colwyn Bay Pier. There is a separate claim in involving his Mother's interest in the Pier (I bet she thanks her son for letting her have a piece of that investment!)  which will be held later in the year.

I wonder if Mr Hunt will now be made to pay all the cost of the case he has lost, including that of CCBC, or rather, OUR money that he has wasted in his futile attempt?

Offline viv

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #368 on: August 17, 2012, 10:10:41 pm »
Where will he get the money from to pay all these legal fees? If his mother is now taking out a new case would this be against Conwy Council or against her son I wonder?  If she invested in the pier she surely had some agreement with her son so as to get her money back, such as first charge if sold? Or was she a legal partner in the business -in which case she should have been jointly and severally liable for the debts.  Was her name put on the deeds or was it just a mother trusting that her beloved son knew what he was doing? Whichever it was, it was a poor investment  -  you have to speculate to accumulate, but you have to prepared to accept the knocks too.

It is now absolutely appalling that all these costs to date are falling on all Conwy Taxpayers when important services are having to be cut to save money. Add to this the overspends on badly managed projects and you are talking mega bucks. It's time that it all stopped so that the public can know that their money is being spent wisely

Offline Ian

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #369 on: August 18, 2012, 08:38:37 am »
But it also serves as a warning that enacting CPOs is certainly not the easy option many seem to think it is.
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline Gaylord Screwsby

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #370 on: August 18, 2012, 02:14:30 pm »
But it also serves as a warning that enacting CPOs is certainly not the easy option many seem to think it is.

This wasn't a CPO though rather a dispute following Mr Hunt's bankruptcy.

Offline Ian

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #371 on: August 18, 2012, 02:51:37 pm »
True;  and you'd think this would be a simpler affair, since ownership of the pier apparently passed to the Crown Estates, who then let CCBC have it.  I suspect, however nothing, is simple when you have a sufficiently determined individual involved.
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline DaveR

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #372 on: August 18, 2012, 05:44:16 pm »
If a CPO had been used, there would have been no dispute over ownership. Not that there is a dispute, really, Mr Hunt ran out of money and lost his ownership as a result.

Offline DaveR

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #373 on: August 18, 2012, 07:42:56 pm »
Tweet from Victoria Pier Pressure Group:

Heritage Hottery Fund re application is going so well, the pier has been alive with surveyors, and it will be submitted later this year!

Offline Fester

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #374 on: August 18, 2012, 11:35:43 pm »
But it also serves as a warning that enacting CPOs is certainly not the easy option many seem to think it is.

This wasn't a CPO though rather a dispute following Mr Hunt's bankruptcy.

Hey Gaylord!   Nice to see you finally got around to posting.... keep 'em coming!  $good$
Fester...
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