Steps taken to preserve remains of pier
(Fleetwood Weekly News 13/09/08 )
Steps are being taken to preserve what is left of Fleetwood Pier, although public safety will be the key consideration throughout the operation.
With most of the building destroyed and two thirds of the boardwalk burnt away, there are concerns from the public that the entire pier will now be demolished.
However, Wyre Borough Council's building control team and conservation officers will continue to work closely with pier owner Simmo Developments Ltd and demolition experts to ensure that once the immediate danger to the public has been removed, every effort will be made to preserve as much as possible from the original structure.
The gutted building which sat on top of the pier will be removed in the interests of public safety.
The cast iron columns and the concrete section at the end that wasn't damaged by the fire are subject to a conservation order and as such cannot be removed without a planning application. This could be over-ridden if any were found to be unsafe.
Lindsey Templeton, conservation officer from Wyre Borough Council said: "There will be an on-going assessment of these columns to determine their stability.
"The likelihood is that the columns nearest the promenade where the fire was at its most intense will be particularly fragile after being exposed to extreme heat and excess water.
"However, we will not allow any of the columns to be removed until our officers are satisfied that leaving them in place would pose a danger to the public."
Council leader Councillor Russell Forsyth added: "It is far too early to comment on the long-term future of the pier until the site has been cleared. That is something that could take six weeks or more.
"Some dirty and dangerous work has to be done in the weeks ahead and we ask people to appreciate that the number one priority has to be reducing the risk to the public and the contractors themselves.
13 September 2008
From the Fleetwood Weekly News
http://www.fleetwoodtoday.co.uk/fleetwood/Steps-taken-to-preserve-remains.4493021.jp
The pier building was also burned down in the 1950s:
Fleetwood Pier History
Although never an elaborate structure Fleetwood Pier holds a special place in pier history, being the last to be built during the 'golden age' (1860-1910) of pier building. The proposal for a pier had been a long drawn out affair, the original submission by Richard Edmunds being rejected in 1892. G T Lumb submitted a revised proposal some years later, that was eventually approved in 1909. The Fleetwood Victoria Pier Company was formed and set about finding investors to raise the £30,000 required. The original prospectus stating:
.....at the end of the pier will be a bandstand, windscreens, kiosk, sea water swimming baths at all states of the tide, to be constructed on the pier, everything tending to raise our town to the position nature intended it to occupy among the watering places of Britain ..... the town and its people would be enriched by its existence.....
The 492ft (150m) Fleetwood Pier opened the following year on Whit Monday 1910, and was predominantly a wooden landing pier, constructed over iron columns, with some amusements at the shoreward end. A pavilion was constructed in 1911, but initial plans to lengthen the structure were soon abandoned. Fleetwood Pier remained largely unchanged prior to the Second World War. Some additional improvements were made in the 1930s, along with a small cinema in 1942. In 1946, after the cessation of hostilities, arrangements were made to replace the timber decking. The worst chapter in the pier's history was to unfold on 25th August 1952. A disastrous fire that had started in the pier cinema created an inferno that could be seen from twenty miles away. The blaze was to leave the entire structure no more than a mass of tangled smouldering steelwork. Rebuilding work commenced almost immediately enabling Fleetwood Pier to re-open the following year.
Always overshadowed by, and having to compete with, its three well known neighbours only a tram ride away in Blackpool, the pier continued to remain profitable throughout the declining years of the seaside resort, even receiving a £70,000 facelift in 1972. Sadly this was not to remain the case and the pier's owners, Fleetwood Amusements Ltd, eventually closed the pier in 2000, after going into liquidation.
In 2003 the new owners, Persian Leisure, were granted permission to redevelop Fleetwood Pier and by December of the same year it was once again open to the public. Now providing bars, restaurants and entertainment, it is hoped Fleetwood Pier will prove to be financially viable for the foreseeable future.
Date: Not stated
Source: English Heritage Trail Website
http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/piers/fleetwood%20pier.htm