WHY DO I CARE ABOUT SOUTH PARADE PIER? My earliest memories are of fishing of the end of the Pier in the 60s and being thrown out the arcades for nudging the penny falls machines and then in my late teens spending every Friday and Saturday night in the Albert Tavern at a Steve Kingsley Disco. In the early 80s I performed there in a band and then years later following the break up of my first marriage and a painful cot death experience, I returned to the Pier once again to clear my head. I fished off it every day for nearly 2 years while staring blankly out to the sea and let all my problems get slowly washed away by the waves. On Sundays I had a stall at the Sunday Market in the Gaiety Showbar where I sold my lifetime collection of vinyl records which eventually led to me opening my own record shop which has supported myself and my family for nearly 20 years. In 2002 my Dad, who was a music promoter died and I held the wake in the Piers Albert Tavern with an evening of open mic, my first ever effort at hosting and promoting a live music event which I continue to do today in his memory. I could go on and on but I think you probably already understand that for me and many others South Parade Pier is a very special place that holds many different memories for many different people. MY OPINION I dont ever remember the Pier being a classy establishment infact quite the opposite, but I do remember watching it deteriorate from the 70s onwards, it did not happen overnight it was a slow and steady decline. Closing the nightclubs on the Seafront was the kiss of death not only for the Pier but for the entire area. Although the arcades kept on churning out the cash during the day, the entertainment and nightlife became reserved for special events which became fewer and fewer as the place deteriorated and eventually these too became almost non existent. With a lack of viable income and less and less money being made available for repairs or refurbishment, the future of South Parade Pier was looking bleak. THE HISTORY In 2010 the Pier was sold for an undisclosed sum to Frenash ltd, three businessmen who pledged to restore it to its former glory, they were named as Fred Nash, Tony Marshall, a London lawyer, and Cambridgeshire stud farm proprietor David Moore. The News reported that the pier was losing more than 300,000 a year, despite previous owners Six Piers who took over in 1999 investing more than 2 million pounds on vital structural work and revamping the Albert Tavern and Gaiety Bar. They blamed the popularity of Gunwharf Quays for taking their last bit of trade away. In 2010 Portsmouth City Council commented that South Parade used to be a thriving establishment but now looks completely dilapidated and that it was not the kind of place most people want to visit By 2011 Frenash Ltd was already in liquidation and ownership passed between Dawn and Barry Randall (daughter of David Moore) and Fred Nash until it was eventually closed for safety reasons in 2012 and was put up for sale at auction but it failed to reach its reserve price of £200,000. During the following year, The Pier Trust failed to complete negotiations on a community ownership deal with Fred and Dawn and the Pier was sold to South Parade Pier Ltd a consortium of local businessmen in early 2014, the final paperwork is due to be completed in the very near future.The new owners are already in full control of the Pier and emergency repairs are on schedule for the Pier to be re-opened to the general public in 2015. See southparadepier.net/?cat=3 WHY DID I GET INVOLVED? Earlier this year I was asked to attend a meeting of like minded people who wanted to save the Pier. In attendance were members of the Pier Trust and other influential bodies from across the City. Before attending the meeting I decided to research the rumours that the Pier had been sold as I could not see the point of discussing saving a Pier that was already in safe hands. So I made a couple of phone calls and within 5 minutes had a name and a contact number of one of the new owners and arranged a meeting to establish the facts. The result of this meeting was published on the Peoples Plan for Southsea facebook group on July 4th 2014 https://facebook/groups/thepeoplesplanforsouthsea and is repeated below. SOUTH PARADE PIER MEETING WITH THE NEW OWNERS (July 4th 2014) I met the new owners of South Parade Pier Limited and they have kindly answered most of the questions proposed by our members. I can verify that contracts have been fully signed and although completion will not take place until later in the year for business reasons, the deal is well and truly done. Portsmouth City Council are fully aware of this and are in constant and direct contact with the new owners. The Pier will be fully repaired and maintained for future generations and all your suggestions are being considered. Space for local businesses/ creatives is most definitely an option as is a multi purpose venue that will encompass all the activities normally associated with a structure of this nature. It will be repaired not redesigned. As it is a listed building there will obviously be some restraints. The use of the facility as a music venue will not be restricted by the planned retirement flats opposite and opening hours and decibel limits will be decided in the same way as any other venue in this city. The multi purpose venue will be available to promoters of all types of events and genres and all ideas will be considered. The arcade at the front will remain but will be refurbished and games machines will include the latest and most exciting technology that is available. Office space, Restaurants, cafes, coffee shops and ice cream parlours and boat moorings are ALL being considered as well as small shops at affordable rents for small businesses. A reasonably priced boat link from Gunwharf to the end of the Pier is an option and fishing areas will be made available too. South Parade Pier Ltd have released the names of their official spokesmen as Bernie Cooper and Malcolm Belcher who will update The Peoples Plan for Southsea with progress reports and answer any questions that are not intrusive, abusive or unnecessary and are they are happy to listen to all positive suggestions from our members. Research into other piers and visits to ascertain what is popular in other seaside towns are being undertaken. Detailed survey reports are work in progress and the new owners will provide us with a schedule of works as soon as this is completed. There will be a dedicated and carefully planned rebuild with all emergency works completed over the next 12 months. The land based part of the pier will also be repaired and opened within this time frame. Structural work and repairs will be privately financed and no money is currently being sought from trusts, grants or public funds. Should the final survey reveal anything massively unexpected which causes a major problem, they would of course welcome public support or investment. This is however highly unlikely as sufficient finance is already in place to cover what is considered by the experts to be required. The Pier will be repaired along its entire length and local contractors will be used wherever possible. MEETING WITH MEMBERS OF THE PIER TRUST AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES. (July 5th 2014) I arrived at the meeting excited to spread the news and let the people who cared about the Pier know the good news about my meeting with the new owners. I did however not get the reaction I expected. Firstly there was disbelief and negativity and then it got a whole lot worse. They wanted names, they wanted to know how much money the new owners had and the general attitude and probing questions of private matters that did not concern them, led me to ask a senior member of the Pier Trust a simple question. I said If the new owners have promised to repair the Pier to restore it to its to its former glory, will you give them your full support? His answer quite frankly shocked me, he said NO, I will do everything in my power to make their life difficult I voiced my disgust at this reply and told him straight That says to me you dont actually care about the Pier at all, you just want to own it THE PIER TRUST PETITION AGAINST THE NEW OWNERS I asked the Trust why they had issued a petition to get the Council to enforce a repair order on the new owners when they had already promised to carry out the repairs and they explained that the petition was 3 months late and was actually meant for Fred and Dawn, the previous owners, so I asked them to withdraw the petition and give the new owners time to fulfill their promise. They refused to withdraw it and infact increased their efforts to gain more signatures, even telling people that the Pier would be pulled down and sold as scrap metal if they did not sign it. They have also told people it is falling down, when it states quite clearly on their own website that it is actually structurally sound. The Trusts latest ploy seems to be discredit the new owners by stating that they are associated with Fred Nash and Dawn Randall even though not a shred of evidence exists to suggest this Is true. I have emails from both Fred and Dawn stating quite clearly that they no longer own the Pier and copies have been send to the News and the BBC confirming this fact. MY SUMMARY I have nothing against community ownership, in principle its a great idea. But the facts suggest that the Pier Trust have well and truly missed the boat. The Pier has new owners and have stated that they are not at all interested in selling it to the Trust. Portsmouth City Council have stated that they will not be issuing a repair order as it is too expensive to enforce (and why would they even consider it if the repairs are being carried out anyway.) If I was part of the Trust, I would be supporting the new owners in every way possible, in the hope that if one day it does come up for sale for any reason, they would consider offering it to them first. At this moment in time all the Trust have achieved is to ensure that they will never own the Pier and the tactics they have employed in my opinion, have severely damaged their reputation. The good news is that the new owners have stated that the repair work is on Schedule and the People of Portsmouth and visitors to the City will be creating new memories and stories to pass on to their children in the very near future. I personally could not be more pleased. Nick Courtney The Peoples Plan for Southsea https://facebook/groups/thepeoplesplanforsouthsea
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 11:29:23 +0000
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