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9th APRIL 1999
The Charity's Annual General Meeting will be held
on Monday 26th April, at 7.30pm in St Paul's Hall, Ramsey. Please
attend if you can.
Subscriptions will remain at £2 for adults and £1
for juniors.
There are still a few limited edition models
available at reduced prices, for further details contact the
Treasurer.
After several reports over the years, with little
apparent action, your committee has taken a decision to adopt a more
pro-active approach on the question of Queen's Pier. In any event,
some of the costings quoted in the past appear to be suspect, and it
has been difficult to see where the money set aside for
"mothballing" has been spent.
Following the Department of Transport's
disappointing refusal to grant limited access to the Pier on our
"Open Day", on insurance grounds, your committee decided
to ascertain another professional opinion as to the Pier's
condition.
It therefore engaged a recognised firm of
consultants, the BWB Partnership, to report on the Queen's Pier. The
firm undertakes maintenance and consultancy work for many UK piers,
and their representatives duly visited Ramsey on two occasions last
autumn. Some of you may have seen them working at low tide, checking
the structural work.
Its report was received earlier this year, with a
copy being sent immediately to Mr Tony Brown MHK, the Minister for
Transport. Many of the findings in the report are very encouraging
indeed, and we set out below some of the highlights as examples:-
"The Queen's Pier is in much better condition
than many piers presently in use around the country"
"The basic framework is sound and to demolish
such a fine example would be a great shame"
"The Pier, ballustrading and main deck
structure are in relatively good condition".
The question you will be asking now is "at
what cost", well the answer is £1,273,000.
This is a good deal less than estimates to
demolish, and a full million pounds less than previous restoration
costings.
The Queen's Pier could be restored and open to the
public within six months of the go ahead being given. Clearly we
wish the current dialogue with Government to produce a positive
result, such that we can all once again enjoy uninterrupted access
to Queen's Pier. Properly painted and illuminated by its cast
lampstands, this pier would have no equal.
Please make your views known to your MHK's when
enlisting their support, and given the political will, there is no
reason for us to wait too much longer.
P.S. It is hoped that the Queen's Pier will be
opened for access on 31 July, to coincide with the RNLI
celebrations.
Watch the press for details.
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