Hasting’s Pier became the People’s Pier!
Decayed, damaged and fire-ravaged, Hastings Pier was rescued by the determination of local residents and had a shot at a second golden age in full community ownership…….
Hastings Pier opened on 5 August 1872, Britain’s first ever bank holiday. It was one of the busiest on the south coast, flourishing during the Victorian seaside tourist boom. In later years it was a popular venue for major acts, including The Stones, Hendrix, and Floyd.
But, by the 1990s storm damage and neglect were causing disrepair. Deemed unsafe, the gradually decaying pier was closed between 1999 and 2002, then again from 2006.
Disaster struck on the 5th night of October 2010, when a raging fire a (suspected arson attack) swept across it, destroying 95% of the superstructure.
The Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust (HPWRT) a group of local residents and business owners, had been fighting to save the pier since 2006. When the fire happened, they had already convinced Hastings Borough Council to carry out compulsory purchase order on the pier, had been granted £75k for a feasibility study, and had just agreed to go to EU-wide tender for architects.
After the fire, instead of giving up, HPWRT and their engineers ascertained that the cast iron and steel skeleton of the pier was still sound, meaning the pier could potentially be rescued.
A few weeks later HPWRT applied for an £8.7m Big Lottery grant. This last throw of the dice for Hastings Pier would give HPWRT most of the funding necessary to rebuild the pier.
In April 2011 HPWRT was awarded the grant in principle. They now had two years to submit a fully developed proposal. They carried out all the development work and appointed a CEO.
At the same time, Hastings Borough Council continued with its compulsory purchase order to buy the pier from its owner, Ravenclaw. Since the fire, Ravenclaw, a company registered in Panama, had failed to respond to any of the council’s letters, and in March 2012 the compulsory purchase order was issued.
HPWRT submitted their final bid to the Lottery, increased to £11.4m, in August 2012. A few months later in November Hastings got the news it had been waiting for: the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded the pier the full grant of £11.4m.
On 15 August 2013 the compulsory purchase order was enforced, and the HPWRT formally took ownership of the pier on behalf of the local community.
The next stage was to refurbish the pier, building a new visitors centre and restoring the pavilion. The pier will once again become a major tourist attraction, bringing visitors and jobs to the town.
Simon Opie, Chair of the Hastings Pier Charity, said:
“We want to offer a 21st century take on the traditional English pier and for it to be used often by locals and visitors alike, a People’s Pier.”
In 2014 they held a charity golf tournament!
The HPWRT raised funds via community shares. In June 2015, they had raised £575,000 from over 2340 investors.
They have a strong online presence with Facebook and Twitter pages as well as an up to date and informative website. They even have a pier webcam live link!
And in January 2016 their website reads:
The final works of the £14.2m refurbishment of Hastings Pier are to complete over the coming weeks and we intend that the pier will be open to the public no later than the middle of April.
Over the past 2.5 years of rebuilding work, the pier – and the weather – have rewritten the timetable, but the last planking should be in place by the end of February (2016) leaving most of the remaining work inside the two buildings. Once construction concludes they have to fit out the spaces to make the Pier fully operational, including all of the heritage interpretation elements.
Their goal was to have the Pier fully operational by mid April 2016.
But things went wrong. I think you’ll agree, the hard work was achieved and the team had many successes, however, the pier didn’t become a success and was sold, not to a community group or to a similarly consituted organisation, but to a private individual. There was public outcry. Has the law been broken here? Is this legally possible?
The asset lock is a constitutional element designed to prevent this failiure of public funds. There would still be a People’s Pier if there was an asset lock.
Visit the Wikipedia page for more information.
Information derived from My Community, which is the portal for community rights information and grant programmes funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government, & Hastings Pier Charity Websites.
Hasting’s Pier became the People’s Pier!
Decayed, damaged and fire-ravaged, Hastings Pier was rescued by the determination of local residents and had a shot at a second golden age in full community ownership…….
Hastings Pier opened on 5 August 1872, Britain’s first ever bank holiday. It was one of the busiest on the south coast, flourishing during the Victorian seaside tourist boom. In later years it was a popular venue for major acts, including The Stones, Hendrix, and Floyd.
But, by the 1990s storm damage and neglect were causing disrepair. Deemed unsafe, the gradually decaying pier was closed between 1999 and 2002, then again from 2006.
Disaster struck on the 5th night of October 2010, when a raging fire a (suspected arson attack) swept across it, destroying 95% of the superstructure.
The Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust (HPWRT) a group of local residents and business owners, had been fighting to save the pier since 2006. When the fire happened, they had already convinced Hastings Borough Council to carry out compulsory purchase order on the pier, had been granted £75k for a feasibility study, and had just agreed to go to EU-wide tender for architects.
After the fire, instead of giving up, HPWRT and their engineers ascertained that the cast iron and steel skeleton of the pier was still sound, meaning the pier could potentially be rescued.
A few weeks later HPWRT applied for an £8.7m Big Lottery grant. This last throw of the dice for Hastings Pier would give HPWRT most of the funding necessary to rebuild the pier.
In April 2011 HPWRT was awarded the grant in principle. They now had two years to submit a fully developed proposal. They carried out all the development work and appointed a CEO.
At the same time, Hastings Borough Council continued with its compulsory purchase order to buy the pier from its owner, Ravenclaw. Since the fire, Ravenclaw, a company registered in Panama, had failed to respond to any of the council’s letters, and in March 2012 the compulsory purchase order was issued.
HPWRT submitted their final bid to the Lottery, increased to £11.4m, in August 2012. A few months later in November Hastings got the news it had been waiting for: the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded the pier the full grant of £11.4m.
On 15 August 2013 the compulsory purchase order was enforced, and the HPWRT formally took ownership of the pier on behalf of the local community.
The next stage was to refurbish the pier, building a new visitors centre and restoring the pavilion. The pier will once again become a major tourist attraction, bringing visitors and jobs to the town.
Simon Opie, Chair of the Hastings Pier Charity, said:
“We want to offer a 21st century take on the traditional English pier and for it to be used often by locals and visitors alike, a People’s Pier.”
In 2014 they held a charity golf tournament!
The HPWRT raised funds via community shares. In June 2015, they had raised £575,000 from over 2340 investors.
They have a strong online presence with Facebook and Twitter pages as well as an up to date and informative website. They even have a pier webcam live link!
And in January 2016 their website reads:
The final works of the £14.2m refurbishment of Hastings Pier are to complete over the coming weeks and we intend that the pier will be open to the public no later than the middle of April.
Over the past 2.5 years of rebuilding work, the pier – and the weather – have rewritten the timetable, but the last planking should be in place by the end of February (2016) leaving most of the remaining work inside the two buildings. Once construction concludes they have to fit out the spaces to make the Pier fully operational, including all of the heritage interpretation elements.
Their goal was to have the Pier fully operational by mid April 2016.
But things went wrong. I think you’ll agree, the hard work was achieved and the team had many successes, however, the pier didn’t become a success and was sold, not to a community group or to a similarly consituted organisation, but to a private individual. There was public outcry. Has the law been broken here? Is this legally possible?
The asset lock is a constitutional element designed to prevent this failiure of public funds. There would still be a People’s Pier if there was an asset lock.
Visit the Wikipedia page for more information.
Information derived from My Community, which is the portal for community rights information and grant programmes funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government, & Hastings Pier Charity Websites.
