Hastings Pier Story Continues
Hastings Pier Story Continues
Hastings Pier Story Continues
Hastings Pier was opened in 1872, Earl of Granville who was then Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.
It was built from a design by Eugenius Birch, his Brighton West Pier had opened six years earlier in 1866. Both Piers are regarded innovative design considering the technical constraints of the Victorian period.
Hastings Pier originally had a 2,000 seat pavilion which was destroyed by fire in 1917 and was eventually replaced in 1922. In the 1930's, the pavilion extension buildings were updated with an art deco facelift and the theatre rebuilt at a time when the Pier was in its prime.
More renovation followed its closure during the years of WWII and it housed the famous Hastings embroidery during the 900th Anniversary of the Battle of Hastings in 1966.
The Pier Pavillion played host in the 1960's and 70's to legendary names such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Genesis, Tom Jones and Pink Floyd.
Parts of the Pier regarded as having special architectural interest became listed in 1976 and the Pier subsequently changed hands on a regular basis with little consistency being evident in the structural renovation input from its subsequent owners.
In 1996 it was put up for sale with its future uncertain as interested buyers were reluctant to invest the amount of capital needed to restore the structural supports. The Pier was eventually sold and reopened under new ownership in 2002.
In June 2006, Hastings Borough Council took the view that part of the pier's structure was unsafe and closed the pier to the general public. Protracted legal exchanges between the pier's owners, Ravenclaw Investments, and Hastings Borough Council followed until funding was found for the 300,000 of repairs. This enabled the court order closing the pier to be lifted and the majority of the pier reopened on 4 July 2007.
In 2008 the Hastings Observer reported to concerned locals how storm damage had considerably weakened the structure and that two support columns were in imminent danger of collapse. Fortunately stronger barriers restricting public access to the damaged areas were put in place and patch up repairs to the bracing prevented any disaster from occurring. Nevertheless, when the last major tenant vacated the Pier was closed. The failure of the owners to respond to appeals from the Council to repair the areas and the continual deterioration of the structure has led to the future of the Pier to being unclear.
Efforts to Save the Pier
The Hastings Pier & White Rock Trust (HPWRT) has been established to raise funds through various means ranging from community events to larger scale grant applications. Grants have been difficult to secure while the Trust cannot assure the prospect of ownership. The emphasis has therefore turned to forcing the Pier's owners to relinquish ownership with a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO). Until recently Hastings Borough Council have appeared to be reluctant to take this action.
The long term goal of the Trust is to acquire the pier and form a not-for-profit company to renovate and reopen the Pier as a community owned asset. The Hastings based Trust remains strongly opposed to any decision to demolishing and clearing the site of the structure which would cost an estimated 4million of local money. The Trust maintain that a similar amount of money could see the Pier refurbished.
In August 2009, the Hastings Observer launched a campaign petition to Save the Pier which the newspaper is encouraging people to sign online. On Saturday 17th of October 2009 more than 1,000 people residents marched along Hastings seafront to the Town Hall in protest at the Hastings Borough Councils' perceived lack of interest decisive action regarding the Pier.
The march concluded with members of the Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust (HPWRT) handing a Compulsory Purchase Order pack, to the council. It is now hoped by many individuals and local small businesses that a decisive outcome will favour the promotion of the seafront as a picturesque tourist attraction once again.
In November 2009 Kerry and Michelle Michael, who own The Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare which caught fire in 2008 destroying the pavilion and is now being rebuilt at a cost of more than 50million, looked at the possibility of purchasing Hastings Pier and restoring it to its former glory. After a structural assessment it was estimated that repairs would cost in excess of 24million with a similar amount needed to restore attractions to the pier head. The engineers rather dismally commented that the pier is "one good storm away from collapse".
Moving Forward
Despite funding set-backs in 2009 HPWRT continues their efforts. 2010 has seen the opening of their Pier Information Centre in the former Arthur Green shop at 34 White Rock. The premises, situated on the seafront just east of the Pier will provide the public with updated Pier campaign news, provide eBiz facilities and the opportunity to purchase locally designed artisan wares. All profits will go towards the Save the Pier campaign.
It is hoped in the longer term to see the transfer of this concern onto the Pier once it has been compulsorily purchased from the current offshore owners and necessary structural works are completed on the area known as the "Apron" - the section of the pier adjacent to the promenade. The Trust is also looking to develop a community share offering for which it has been successful in being granted support from the Community Shares Programme, funded by the Office of the Third Sector, in the Cabinet Office.
Hastings Pier has been deemed the most at risk pier currently in the UK by the National Piers Society. The Pier Trust believes that the rescue of the Pier is entirely feasible providing action is taken in time.
On 1st February 2010, Hastings Borough Council resolved to work towards an approval in principle to compulsorily purchase the Pier on the agreement of a business plan and suitable funding source. Most funding applications have been met with similar responses along the lines that funding could not be considered without a realistic prospect of ownership. The Trust's aim therefore is to work towards a CPO for the Pier. The Council remain hesitant, presumably at the possibility of a CPO being successful, the Trust not securing funding and the Pier remaining in the ownership of the Council being a significant burden on them and the local taxpayer, which again, presumably, was the main reason they sold the Pier in the first place.
On 16th March, Hastings Pier & White Rock Trust successfully obtained a 75k Feasibility grant to fund the completion of necessary engineering surveys and architectural plans for their business plan to secure capital funding. The results of this study have been reported in the Hastings Observer as showing that the Pier requires an initial 8M to make the front section safe, not the 3M reported earlier.
The Trust remains optimistic that the funding could be provided from Heritage Lottery grants and other similar sources but this would depend on ownership. The Council's Labour leader has stated he's pleased to see progress and is confident that Councillors will vote for a CPO.
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