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 386178 times)

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Offline DaveR

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #780 on: February 02, 2017, 10:28:46 am »
The section that collapsed has not been maintained since the 1970s, so amazing it has lasted so long really. The main sections of pier are in a far better condition.

What I find truly amazing is Conwy Council's comment that "Over recent years the Council has been quite clear about the deteriorating state of the pier.". As the owners of the pier, they alone are responsible for maintaining a Listed building, yet no work has been done at all in the way of repairs to the structure in the 4 years since they bought it!

Any private owner of a Listed building would feel the full weight of enforcement action from CCBC if they neglected a property in the same way, yet the council act with impunity.


Offline Bosun

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #781 on: February 02, 2017, 01:06:15 pm »
DaveR, I, and I believe, many others will wholly agree with you; the Council's conduct has been utterly disgraceful, if not illegal. The Council's conduct has been that of a rogue developer and they should be held to account, but in reality, we know that the morally correct outcome of the Council being forced to repair/renovate the pier is not going to happen. There will certainly be no private investment.

There is only going to be one sad and disgraceful outcome. It's a tragic tale of woeful incompetence.
Being negative only makes a difficult journey more difficult. You may have been given a cactus, but you don't have to sit on it.


Offline SteveH

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #782 on: February 02, 2017, 02:07:15 pm »
Fight to save Colwyn Bay pier will go on, defiant campaigners say after partial collapse

The Colwyn Victoria Pier Trust campaign says it will continue to resist attempts to demolish the 19th century structure, following part of it collapsing into the sea yesterday.
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/fight-save-colwyn-bay-pier-12546080
Quotes....
The Trust is also intent on carrying out an independent survey as stipulated by the Welsh Government, and have been trying to gain  access to the Pier since last Summer but have so far been thwarted by the Council. The last two meetings scheduled between the Trust and Conwy officers have also been cancelled, further frustrating matters.

Over the last couple of years bits have been ground off from the cross section of the structure and one has to wonder if this weakened it, Conwy said it was for safety reasons.”

Offline Nemesis

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #783 on: February 02, 2017, 02:34:04 pm »
The section that collapsed has not been maintained since the 1970s, so amazing it has lasted so long really. The main sections of pier are in a far better condition.

What I find truly amazing is Conwy Council's comment that "Over recent years the Council has been quite clear about the deteriorating state of the pier.". As the owners of the pier, they alone are responsible for maintaining a Listed building, yet no work has been done at all in the way of repairs to the structure in the 4 years since they bought it!

Any private owner of a Listed building would feel the full weight of enforcement action from CCBC if they neglected a property in the same way, yet the council act with impunity.

From experience the Council are somewhat lax in clamping down on illegal additions/alterations to listed buildings, but CADW are the very devil on the subject.
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to know.

Offline DaveR

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #784 on: February 03, 2017, 09:50:13 am »
Speaking of CADW, I found their reaction to the partial collapse interesting:

A Cadw spokesman said: “We are devastated to hear of the partial collapse of this important historic asset. Conwy County Council has responsibility for the pier and we will be meeting with them shortly to discuss next steps.”

Doesn't sound like permission for demolition will be forthcoming anytime soon....


Offline OrmeMac

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #785 on: February 03, 2017, 11:39:47 am »

Offline Hugo

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #786 on: February 05, 2017, 12:49:30 pm »
I had a nice walk on the beach in Old Colwyn this morning, then had a look at the damage to the pier.   While I was taking some snapshots a lady asked me to take some close ups of the stanchions that had been snapped when the pier collapsed.
She was a member of Save our Pier and alleged that they may have been sabotaged.    ?{}?
The shots were taken with the zoom on because the pier has been fenced off and the Security Guard was present.   

Offline Hugo

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Offline Fester

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #788 on: February 05, 2017, 07:27:10 pm »
Hmmm!  Straight edges, a sure sign of some acetylene cutting, or similar intervention.
Fester...
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Offline SDQ

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #789 on: February 05, 2017, 08:15:14 pm »
Hmmm!  Straight edges, a sure sign of some acetylene cutting, or similar intervention.


It's not as simple as that, you need to get up close to see if the metal has sheared or been cut.
As long as it is inspected/examined by an independent engineer!
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Offline Blongb

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #790 on: February 05, 2017, 09:23:14 pm »
Why oh why must someone come up with a preposterous conspiracy theory without an ounce of common sence to back themselves up. If someone had cut the stations with any sort of cutting gear, it could not have been carried out in secret. There would always have been someone in the vicinity to see what was going on. Old cast iron will always fracture along a line of weakness, why if that happens to be a stright line should we then suspect anything other than all the reports on the state of the pier were correct. Lovely old structure in its day but that day was well past its sell by.
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Offline Fester

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #791 on: February 05, 2017, 10:53:53 pm »
Look at the 2nd photo, no way on this Earth is that a natural fracture or break.
Believe the evidence of your own eyes, there is hardly any corrosion on those perfectly straight edges either!
No conspiracy theory, it might have been unrelated to the outcome, but there have been council workmen on that site, and that looks suspicious, just saying!
Fester...
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Offline Blongb

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #792 on: February 06, 2017, 12:50:30 pm »
Look at the 2nd photo, no way on this Earth is that a natural fracture or break.
Believe the evidence of your own eyes, there is hardly any corrosion on those perfectly straight edges either!
No conspiracy theory, it might have been unrelated to the outcome, but there have been council workmen on that site, and that looks suspicious, just saying!

Look at Hugos first photo in post #786 Fester, look at the intact leg on the right which comes down and fits into a round support collar. It is a similar support collar that has fractured on the other leg, no human intervention required.  :rage:   
Quot homines tot sententiae: suus cuique mos.
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Offline Bosun

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #793 on: February 06, 2017, 12:52:30 pm »
It was done by Elvis.
Being negative only makes a difficult journey more difficult. You may have been given a cactus, but you don't have to sit on it.

Offline Hugo

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Re: The long running saga of Colwyn Bay Pier
« Reply #794 on: February 06, 2017, 01:17:27 pm »
I have no views either way on the Pier and all I was asked to do was take the photos for the lady.    Apart from an allegation that someone saw sparks and heard noises coming from under the pier one evening one thing did cross my mind though.
When anyone uses heavy machinery like a chain saw or hedge cutter then the machine is usually operated at waist height or just above the waist.  That's about the same height as both the stanchions were, so hypothetically any one using an angle grinder would have used it at the same height.
It may be no more than just a coincidence that both stanchions fractured in exactly the same straight line and at the  same height.