Official Statement From Grand Pier (Weston-Super-Mare) Owner Regarding Rebuild Plans

May 29, 2009 - PRLog -- “To enable the new pier to open in time for the summer of 2010 we need to appoint a main contractor to build the new pavilion by the end of June. We fear that we will not be in a position to do that because of a hellish battle we are having with North Somerset Council.

The entire pier project is costing £34million and it will undoubtedly bring prosperity to Weston-super-Mare , and is crucial to the town’s future. Our aim is to build the best pier in the world and for Weston-super-Mare to be a major destination for holiday makers, day trippers and locals alike.

But a series of demands from North Somerset Council, and failure to agree terms with them as adjoining land owners have put the project in jeopardy.

Our estimate of the cost of legal fees for concluding agreement with NSC was originally £20,000, but due the continually changing position of the Council that figure has now exceeded £150,000. Additionally, we are no nearer an agreement today than we were when we started.

Despite personally reaching agreement on costs with the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council two weeks ago, they have moved the goal posts again, and have come back this week demanding we also pay for a gate in their new splash wall and for a seafront traffic light system - adding more than £100,000 to the costs. This is just not acceptable. We fear that even if we agreed to this as well, they will just keep coming back for more and more as they have been doing for months.

We are being charged rent for the beach we are using to get building materials to the pier as the pier waist is not strong enough and rent for the builders’ compound, also on the beach. The council is trying to make a profit out of this tragedy.

The Council is also asking us to pay land management and licence fees, council legal fees, and even the cost of a council employee to keep tabs on us to make sure we are doing everything properly.

North Somerset claims that it is paying half the cost of our coach stop. The truth is that we agreed to pay for whole cost ourselves - until they told us it also had to be used for deliveries, as a bus stop and in fact, anyone could use it. Instead of us building it as we originally offered, it was agreed that they would build it and we would contribute 50% to reflect the fact that it is not now going to be for our sole use. That is very different to their claims that it is paying half ‘for us’.

The perception is that North Somerset Council is bending over backwards to assist us in the re-building of the pavilion but that is not the reality. We originally feared the planning system and to their credit, planning officers dealt efficiently and diligently with our application and it was processed within the expected timescales. But trying to deal with North Somerset as adjoining land owner has been impossible.

We are desperate to re-build the Pavilion and create something that not only we but the whole town can be proud of. Despite the recession, we have pressed ahead as fast as we possible could to deliver a World class attraction and create more than 200 jobs in the process. If the Council is demanding all these costs because they are trying to be commercial, they should look at the commercial loss to the area if our plans don’t go ahead.”

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The Grand Pier is a tourist attraction located in the Weston-super-mare, UK. In July 2008 it was destroyed by a fire and there are currently plans to rebuild it. Please see http://www.grandpierwsm.co.uk