Southend Pier museum seeking water leaks payout (From Echo)

Southend Pier museum seeking water leaks payout

6:50am Tuesday 4th January 2011 in Southend By Mike Miners

SOUTHEND Council could face a compenstion claim after the town’s pier museum was forced to shut for most of the year because of water leaks.

Peggy Dowie, chairman of Southend Pier Museum Trust, wants Southend Council to compensate the museum for the loss of entry fees, thought to run into thousands of pounds.

The museum – which houses memorabilia like an original restored working pier signal box – was dogged by water leaks from the pier, which got worse during pier refurbishment works.

Mrs Dowie said: “Because of the leaks we’ve had to close the office and shelter all paperwork and more fragile exhibits inside the former pier trains we display.

“We’ve had countless calls from disappointed people and groups of people who wanted to visit. One man came from Manchester to visit, other people have even come from abroad.

“I am trying to get compensation from the council.”

The museum, which is open on key dates around Christmas, bank holidays and four days a week from early April to late September, also attracts numerous visits from schools.

Mrs Dowie added: “The closure has been a massive disappointment for so many school groups wanting to know about the heritage. We were expecting a bumper year for the museum.”

Mrs Dowie is anxious to preserve the good relationship she says the trust has with the council and would not confirm the amount being claimed.

She also supported the work on the pier which includes new walkways and windbreaks.

Derek Jarvis, Southend councillor responsible for culture and a board member of the museum trust, said: “At the last board meeting in June, I was aware of the problems, but they had been fixed and I don’t know why the museum didn’t open.

“I think before I comment on this matter it should be discussed by the board, as we too want to maintain a good relationship with the museum.”

However, Mrs Dowie said by the time the leaks were fixed it was the end of the museum’s opening season.

The museum pays one person to staff it on the four days a week it is open to the public. It does not receive a grant from the council.

However, the venue attracts around 6,000 visitors a year.

Mrs Dowie said she was disappointed the museum was forced to stay closed on its busiest days of the year, Boxing Day 2009 and 2010.