OH DEAR...SHORE(LY) NOT

REPRODUCED FROM THE THREE TOWN FORUM

Statement
Heritage Lottery Fund statement - Colwyn Bay Victoria Pier, Conwy
Wednesday 28 March 2012

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has assessed a £4.9m application from Conwy Borough County Council (CBCC) towards the restoration of Grade II listed Colwyn Bay Victoria Pier. After careful consideration, it was decided the Fund was unable to support the project.

Jennifer Stewart, Head of HLF Wales, said:
“We were impressed with the Council’s imaginative plans to transform Colwyn Bay Victoria Pier and its Art Deco pavilion into a much-needed community and tourist centre.
“This month’s HLF Board meeting was very over-subscribed. The quality of bids was exceptionally high and, regretfully, we just didn’t have enough money to support all the applications we looked at on the day. We will be meeting with representatives from the Council shortly to discuss the best way forward for their project.”


Background
To date, HLF has made awards in Conwy totalling £8.5m.
CBBCC has received previous grants totalling £5.8m for a number of HLF Townscape Heritage Initiative and parks projects.

Notes to editors

Using money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) sustains and transforms a wide range of heritage for present and future generations to take part in, learn from and enjoy. From museums, parks and historic places to archaeology, natural environment and cultural traditions, we invest in every part of our diverse heritage. HLF has supported more than 30,000 projects allocating over £4.5billion across the UK, including more than 2,000 projects totalling over £217million in Wales.


Further information

Please contact Katie Owen, HLF Press Office, on tel: 020 7591 6036 mob: 07973 613 820

As I stated before, my fears are now that we will be burdened with the very costly upkeep of the pier

WILL THEY DO THE RIGHT THING?

The High Street is dying, not just here in Colwyn Bay but everywhere throughout the Country, here we see empty shop fronts growing at an alarming rate only to be replaced by charity shops, pay-day loans and pawn shops....what can we do?

The Council have now purchased the Old Market Hall in Colwyn Bay and I still believe that they intend to use it for their own purpose ...

http://voicesofcolwynbay.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/old-indoor-market.html

We cannot blame the Council directly for the decline, on-line shopping, increased business rates and the current financial crisis must also take their part of the blame but what the Council can do is give the people a reason to come into Town. Use the Old Market Hall as a magnet, turn it into something to draw in the shoppers, I’ve already made my suggestions for its use but they were scoffed at.

If the Council do build their offices then it will turn Colwyn Bay into a virtual ghost-town, we need them to be far sighted and radical, we need them to visualise the future of what their decisions could entail but, most of all, we need them to think about the people and not themselves.

PIG'S PLIGHT

For some obscure reason my dog, Pig, has, on our walks in the woods, started collecting his own pets.... Ticks! In the five years we’ve had him he may have had one or two but this year its gone absolutely silly, he must have at least 6 clinging to him!

We’ve tried the usual treatments flea/tick collar, the stuff you put on the neck and base of the tail, we’ve tried covering them in Vaseline, nail polish and nail polish remover (alcohol) We’ve managed to pull out a couple using tweezers and used some stuff that the pet shop sold us but the majority of the tricky little buggers refuse to shift.

Pig’s a resilient little fella but he’s a tad pi**ed off at me yanking these little blighters out of various parts of his body and we both decided it might be for the better if I left the one near his bum hole for just a little while longer!

So....if anyone has any helpful hints or tips Pig would be mighty grateful and if any of you are contemplating tackling the one near his bum I must warn you...the other end has a lot of teeth!

Colwyn Bay Pier (Victoria Pier) falling (pardon the pun) into the hands of CCBC may not be the good news we all think it is. Shore Thing, the “front-men” for the Council have come up with some ideas that look good on paper but, in reality, may not work.

Call me a sceptic but unless the Pier hits the ground running as a commercial venture then it is doomed to failure and, if that happens, it will be the local tax payer who is burdened with the cost of it and that could dwindle on for many years.

I remain convinced that the only viable way for the Pier to succeed is in the hands of a private company, if that company is a gaming company and they want to open a casino then so be it, let them. If Shore Thing remain in control and only partially refit the pier, as and when funding is available then we are back to the way that Steve Hunt was trying to do it, building it up when he could afford it.

I was there when the original “Shore Thing” was set up, their main criteria was that no Councillors were to be involved with its workings yet I know of a couple who are skirting around it and, in my opinion, pulling the strings.....the Council remain in control but at arms length so, with running costs and maintenance estimated at over £50,000 a year who do you think will end up paying for it?

Please God....let me be wrong!