Save Our Pier!

As some of you may be aware, the Grand Pier is in a battle with North Somerset Council regarding the rebuild.

We do not think this is acceptable and we would like as many of our friends to support us by telling the council just how important it is for everyone that our Pier is rebuilt as soon as possible.

Our ambition is to build the best Pier in the world that everyone will want to visit; most importantly a place that people of Weston-super-Mare will be proud of and, in turn, will make Weston-super-Mare one of the best seaside resorts in the UK.

North Somerset Council are now preventing us from achieving our goal, due to the continuous spiralling costs they are demanding.

We now need your help to save your Pier.


An Official Statement from Kerry Michael (Grand Pier co-owner):

“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 possibly 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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Grand Pier work on course

Work to rebuild the Grand Pier at Weston-super-Mare is on target with support piles for the attraction’s new 85 metre observation tower due to be driven into the sea bed next week.

So far 22 steel piles have been driven into the sea bed by Commercial Marine Piling to support the new pavilion, which is planned to open in time for the 2010 summer season.

Contractors Commercial Marine Piling is carrying out the work using a specialist jack-up barge brought to site to cope with the high tides. At the same time shot blasting work underneath the pier is also being carried out and replacement of steelwork damaged in the fire that destroyed the old pavilion in July last year.


Image shows the barge next to the Grand Pier.

Contracts for the construction of the new pavilion, which will house exciting amusements and rides for the public, have now gone out to tender.

Co-owners Kerry and Michelle Michael are continuing their worldwide search to find some of the most up-to-date rides and attractions for the new pavilion. But they are also finalising plans for old favourites, such as the Fun House, go-kart track and a traditional helter-skelter.

Michelle Michael said: “Every day sees progress being made and we are working to a tight timescale. So far everything is on course with the piling and superstructure clean-up and we can’t wait for the next stage.”

The Fun House will be twice the size of its predecessor and will be three storeys high with lots of thrills and tricks for those who enter. There will also be “psychedelic experience” where the fun starts by putting on special glasses and entering a world of “mind-blowing” visions from the Sixties.


Image shows an illustration of how the new Crazy House & Psychodelic Trip will look.

Kerry Michael said: “We want this to be the best pier in the world and for that we need to have the best rides, the biggest laughs and the most fun. There are designers and ride specialists working on getting that right for us all over the world.

“The pavilion structure is important but what will entertain local people and also attract people to Weston will be what they find when they go inside. We want to create the fun of a seaside holiday and also an all-year round attraction where local people can let their hair down and enjoy themselves.”

Kissing on Piers...

It started with a kiss. Now Hazel Costin and Jay Preller's romance is taking them on a round-Britain tour from pier to eternity.

The couple aim to have a kiss on every pier in the British Isles before they get married at the end of Weston-super-Mare's Grand Pier where they first met – and they plan to publish a love story with a difference about their seaside challenge

Last weekend they travelled to the Isle of Man to visit Queen's Pier in Ramsey and its locked gates were specially opened so the lovebirds could be photographed having their kiss.

The structure is deemed too dangerous, however, for them to take a walk to the end but the couple hope to return one day - if and when the pier is restored to its former glory.

Hazel, 39, a teacher, and self-employed decorator Jay, 51, initially made friends on the internet but arranged to meet for a coffee on the Grand Pier in their home town of Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, in July 2007.

'We hit it off straight away, becoming "an item" a few weeks later!' said Hazel. 'We had our first kiss on the end of the pier.'

A devastating blaze at the Grand Pier in July the following year and a blaze at Fleetwood a few weeks later led to the idea of the book.

Hazel explained: 'We suggested there wouldn't be any piers left to have a kiss at the end of unless we went round to see them all.'

Ramsey's Queen's Pier is the 35th of 56 British piers they have visited so far and they plan to get married at the end of Weston's Grand Pier as soon as it's refurbished, hopefully in late May 2010.

Their book is provisionally titled From Piers to Eternity.

'We are a bit overawed at all the attention as we didn't expect to be taken this seriously, but have met some lovely people who have made visiting some of the beautiful piers possible!' said Hazel.

During their visit to Queen's Pier, the couple were given honorary life membership of the Friends of Queen's Pier by the group's chairman Fred Hodgson.

Hazel said of the pier: 'It's such a shame – it's the sixth longest pier in Britain. It looks better than we thought it would be. Structurally it's sound. We will return when they save it!'

Jay said he was convinced a use could be found for the pier.

He said: 'If people see a pier they've got to walk to the end – they can't just walk past. Refurbishing the pier will bring people into Ramsey. If they could make the entrance bigger may be they could use it for a motorbike museum.'

A Council of Ministers working party is due to report back in the autumn with its options for refurbishing the pier.

Fred said: 'It is common knowledge that piers are a great draw for the public.

'A few years ago a couple had some of their wedding day photos taken during our open day and now Hazel and Jay have come over to celebrate the part that piers played in their lives.

'Perhaps we have stumbled on yet another use for the pier as a venue for weddings. I hope to see them both back on the Island to walk the full length together in the near future.'

Source: Isle of Man Today

New thrill-seeking rides for Grand Pier

A THREE-STOREY fun house, a laser room and a mirror maze are among the thrilling attractions that will be found on Weston's multi-million pound Grand Pier.

The revamped state-of-the-art pavilion will feature some of the most technologically-advanced rides in the world, it has been revealed this week.

Please go to the Weston Mercury to read the rest of the article.

The Grand Pier Commends School Project

The owners of the Grand Pier at Weston have praised the efforts of a pupil of Clifton College, who has completed a study on how businesses in the town were affected by the pier fire last year as part of a school project.

It was feared that the Grand Pier fire last July would impact on businesses in the area if tourists stayed away because the pier pavilion had been destroyed.

Alexis Birakos, a year 8 pupil at Clifton College, decided to look at the issue as part of a Georgraphy project asking the question: ‘Has The Loss Of The Grand Pier Adversely Affected Business In Weston-Super-Mare’.

His comprehensive report has now been sent to the owners of the pier, Michelle and Kerry Michael, who say it is a useful piece of research that will benefit the town.

Alexis said: “I carried out a questionnaire and was very surprised because 56% said that their business stayed the same since the pier burnt down and I thought that the majority of business would have been adversely affected especially as 84% of businesses thought that the pier played a really important role in attracting tourists to Weston.”

The report suggests that drops in business could also have been attributed to other factors such as the current recession. Alexis also surveyed members of the public at Bristol Zoo. He found that the majority of people had not been to Weston-super-Mare since the fire but were quite positive about going back when the pier is re-built.

Michelle Michael said: “Alexis’ project is very impressive as he appears to have left no stone un-turned in his research. The findings make for some interesting reading for us and we are aware of how important the pier is to local businesses, which is why we have been so keen to get it rebuilt as quickly as possible.

“In some ways the damaged pier became an attraction in itself last year as many people came to Weston-super-Mare to look at it and the full effects of the fire on local tourism will not be known until the end of this season.”

The information in the project will be used by the Grand Pier as part of its planning for the future.

Alexis’ Geography teacher, Roger Mills, said Alexis had clearly worked hard and produced a very interesting geography investigation.

He said: “We try and encourage all year 8 children to choose something local and interesting to them. This is part of their coursework and this will count for 20% of their overall mark. I am delighted that Alexis`s work will help in promoting the opening of the new structure.”



Pictured: Fiona Hooper (Grand Pier) and Alexis Birakos (Clifton College)