Closing pier could harm tourism trade - councillor (From Echo)

Absolute twaddle. How many people trudge up the pier on a cold Tuesday in February? If they were that desperate they can put off the misery until Wednesday. No-one is going to visit Southend just for a wintery walk up the pier. Save the money. Shut it four days per week in the winter.

collateral damage? visitor numbers are single figures. graham longley is a clown of the highest order. watch your back shoebury clownski - you have stiff competition.

Mitichal wrote:
Absolute twaddle. How many people trudge up the pier on a cold Tuesday in February? If they were that desperate they can put off the misery until Wednesday. No-one is going to visit Southend just for a wintery walk up the pier. Save the money. Shut it four days per week in the winter.

Totally agree!

The only people this may affect are those that go fishing off it regularly.

I think it's a good idea and may even give them the opportunity to carry out any maintenance/repairs so as not to disrupt pier visitors at other times.

Maybe it should only open at weekends from October to April

Graham I assume you must have access to relevant information to back up your collateral damage claim. Please produce some figures for pier visits on Monday and Tuesdays during the winter months to support your quite ridiculous claim. I calculate that thats about 48 days closed which works out about £1000 per day, if all the visitors choose the winter walk entry at £1.00 that would mean you would need 1000 people a day to even match the saving figure. Get real 1000 a day when its cold and horrible. The only thing which I might change if the days fell right over Christmas and New year holidays I would open as usual.
Back your claim with some figures !!!

Oh by the way I love our pier and hate the way its declined through the years through mismanagement via the council.
Was it insured in 1976 when like many others in the town I stood on the front and watched it burn? If not why not ? For something that supposedly brings people into the town we do not look after it very well do we !

I'm fairly convinced that the council would really rather it wasn't there at all

While seeing some sense in SBC limited closure too many of us think back to a time when the Council wanted shot of anything connected with the traditional seaside image of the town and that included the pier. Could we suspect a hidden agenda once again? Lack of long term investment in the pier is a stark reality when compared with the successes of Southwold and Weston, even after a major fire.

Mitichal wrote:
Absolute twaddle. How many people trudge up the pier on a cold Tuesday in February? If they were that desperate they can put off the misery until Wednesday. No-one is going to visit Southend just for a wintery walk up the pier. Save the money. Shut it four days per week in the winter.

Probably not many, but why close it ? The pier must be 'open' because there's a life boat station on the end of it ? So why not just leave the gates open and allow people free access that really want to walk down it on the basis there will be no trains.... No trains, ticket staff etc and they will still save money without restricting what people choose to do (however miserable the prospect)

pembury53 wrote:

Mitichal wrote: Absolute twaddle. How many people trudge up the pier on a cold Tuesday in February? If they were that desperate they can put off the misery until Wednesday. No-one is going to visit Southend just for a wintery walk up the pier. Save the money. Shut it four days per week in the winter.

Probably not many, but why close it ? The pier must be 'open' because there's a life boat station on the end of it ? So why not just leave the gates open and allow people free access that really want to walk down it on the basis there will be no trains.... No trains, ticket staff etc and they will still save money without restricting what people choose to do (however miserable the prospect)

OK, missed the bit about 'employment law' meaning they need to fully staff it ? That in itself though sounds like a load of twaddle !

Russ13 wrote:

Mitichal wrote:
Absolute twaddle. How many people trudge up the pier on a cold Tuesday in February? If they were that desperate they can put off the misery until Wednesday. No-one is going to visit Southend just for a wintery walk up the pier. Save the money. Shut it four days per week in the winter.

Totally agree!

The only people this may affect are those that go fishing off it regularly.

I think it's a good idea and may even give them the opportunity to carry out any maintenance/repairs so as not to disrupt pier visitors at other times.

It will affect the RNLI shop that is down the pier which makes huge contributions to the fundraising. i can understand it being shut for 2 days a week but not four. Seeing as Southend lifeboat was the busiest coastal station in the country in 2012.

captain mannering wrote:

Russ13 wrote:

Mitichal wrote:
Absolute twaddle. How many people trudge up the pier on a cold Tuesday in February? If they were that desperate they can put off the misery until Wednesday. No-one is going to visit Southend just for a wintery walk up the pier. Save the money. Shut it four days per week in the winter.

Totally agree!

The only people this may affect are those that go fishing off it regularly.

I think it's a good idea and may even give them the opportunity to carry out any maintenance/repairs so as not to disrupt pier visitors at other times.

It will affect the RNLI shop that is down the pier which makes huge contributions to the fundraising. i can understand it being shut for 2 days a week but not four. Seeing as Southend lifeboat was the busiest coastal station in the country in 2012.

It is only closing on Mondays and Tuesdays during winter, why not let the RNLI have a stand on the days it is closed at the shore end or a stall in the High Street.

Visitor numbers are so low in winter that staffing costs out strips what the gate takes, it is a sensible move to have it shut for two days, as has already been said maintenance can be undertaken.

Wouldn't it make more sense to have the RNLI shop at the seafront end anyway? Catching everyone in its footfall not just the few that go to the end of the Pier?

The mans from another planet. What reason is there to walk the pier at any time of the year.
If it had been handed over to private enterprise years ago, taxpayer money would not have had to be used to support a lame duck, and the lame duck would have been cured by private enterprise investing in making the pier an entertainment centre. Currently the only entertainment on the pier is counting the number of planks in the boardwalk, what fun.

It has been a financial disater for southend for years and years, because jealous councillors would not let go. We even had to pay for what little restoration was done after the fires, our fine local gov' officers forgot the insurance.

shaun1965 wrote:
Maybe it should only open at weekends from October to April

Quite agree,as I have said before a white elephant.

Keeping it open every day all year isn't exactly boosting the tourist trade is it!!

nice hat

Most tourist attractions close during the winter months so that restoration and other essential work can be carried out .. The same should happen with the Pier .. It's got nothing going for it anyway ..

Max Impact wrote:

captain mannering wrote:

Russ13 wrote:

Mitichal wrote:
Absolute twaddle. How many people trudge up the pier on a cold Tuesday in February? If they were that desperate they can put off the misery until Wednesday. No-one is going to visit Southend just for a wintery walk up the pier. Save the money. Shut it four days per week in the winter.

Totally agree!

The only people this may affect are those that go fishing off it regularly.

I think it's a good idea and may even give them the opportunity to carry out any maintenance/repairs so as not to disrupt pier visitors at other times.

It will affect the RNLI shop that is down the pier which makes huge contributions to the fundraising. i can understand it being shut for 2 days a week but not four. Seeing as Southend lifeboat was the busiest coastal station in the country in 2012.

It is only closing on Mondays and Tuesdays during winter, why not let the RNLI have a stand on the days it is closed at the shore end or a stall in the High Street.

Visitor numbers are so low in winter that staffing costs out strips what the gate takes, it is a sensible move to have it shut for two days, as has already been said maintenance can be undertaken.

yeah i know what you mean. I think there used to be an RNLI shop in the high street. Not too sure why it went. Think when the offshore boathouse was built it was better to relocate there so they could hold more stock.