Owner of Weston's Grand Pier to pull plug on rebuild
The co-owner of Weston-super- Mare's Grand Pier says he is pulling the plug on its £34-million rebuild because of a row over cash with North Somerset Council.
Kerry Michael says the project to get the pier reopened for business next summer, after the pavilion was destroyed in a devastating fire last July, has been "a journey from hell" – and says he has been "freaked out" by ever-rising demands for money from the authority.
The council says it has already offered to waive some of its rents, fees and charges but cannot expect the taxpayer to subsidise a private, profit-making company.
Mr Michael told the Bristol Evening Post that in the first six months after the blaze he was never told by North Somerset Council he would have to pay any fees, such as beach rents, as he rebuilt the tourist attraction.
But he said three months ago the authority started asking for money for rent and works related to the rebuilding project – and he says its demands had since escalated.
Mr Michael says he made the council an offer of £80,000 but it wants almost £70,000 more than he is prepared to pay – and he has "had enough of the demands".
He said: "I have said it is over and I'm not going to rebuild the pier.
"I gave them a deadline of Tuesday to accept £80,000 towards beach rents and fees and they didn't even reply to me, they have just ignored it.
"The council leader and deputy leader did agree and shook hands on a full and final settlement of £75,000 the Friday before last or I would not rebuild it.
"But since then they have come up with a new figure of £149,500, which includes the cost of a council employee to monitor our rebuild to protect the interest of the council as adjoining property owner.
"I'm not paying them a penny now and they can explain to the people of Weston why the pier is not going ahead.
"I don't like having the council's hand in my pocket.
"The piling works have started and can't be stopped but I'm not going to appoint a main contractor.
"Dealing with the local authority is the most difficult thing I have done in over 30 years of business.
"I have built buildings across the country and never have I been treated like this; this has been a journey from hell."
He said that his legal fees for the scheme, originally estimated at £20,000, had already reached £150,000 because the authority was "continually moving the goalposts".
Mr Michael said: "Unless the council waives its unreasonable demands, I won't build it and that is the end of the story."
The Weston-super-Mare businessman, who jointly owns the pier with his sister Michelle, said the council first asked them to buy a section of seabed where the new 85-metre observation tower would be built, at a cost of £25,000.
It then wanted weekly rent payments on the base of each of the three cranes sited on the beach, which are being used in the building work.
Further demands were then made for rent for the builder's storage area on the beach, license fees to have the crane and compound in place and then council legal fees.
Mr Michael said that when the council's demands topped £300,000 he "freaked out" and met with council leader Nigel Ashton and deputy Elfan ap Rees, telling them he planned to pull out of the scheme.
He says the pair agreed to a final figure of £75,000 to cover all fees and costs, including a 50 per cent contribution towards a coach stop he had previously been set to pay the entire bill for.
But Mr Michael said the council hit him with another demand this week, asking for contributions towards a £60,000 flood gate and new £75,000 traffic lights in nearby Pier Square.
Mr Michael added: "The council never identified any charges whatsoever at the start of this process.
"Despite that fact, I agreed to pay them more than £100,000 in various trumped-up charges and rents, but each time we reached agreement, they came back and wanted more.
"The money I was prepared to give them has now gone in unnecessary legal fees, so I do not have a budget to pay them anything.
"The point is not that we haven't reached agreement, it's that every time we have, they changed their mind and this is what has cost us so dear and what makes them impossible to deal with.
"If they are prepared to waive their fees, rents and all other charges, I will proceed with the rebuild. Alternatively, I fear it is the end of the road for this project."
The council said Mr Michael was not being treated any differently to other businesses operating around the seafront.
A North Somerset Council spokesman said: "The beach is public land belonging to the taxpayer and it is normal to charge rents.
"Birse, which is carrying out the sea defence work, is paying rent, as does the SeaQuarium and the concessionaires all pay for use of this public area.
"So this is not an exclusive charge to the pier, it's a normal process.
"A lot of money they are talking about should be recoverable from the insurance company, such as the basic cost of the crane and compound.
"We have tried to sort this matter out but at the end of the day we are accountable to the taxpayers; there's only so far we can go without having to seek approval from the full council.
"The full council could subsidise it but that's a decision it would have to make.
"The council has agreed to waive some of the fees in order to help the pier but the bottom line is the owners are not prepared to pay.
"We have made an offer we feel we can justify and that is to say the council will pay 50 per cent of the cost of the lay-by. Because of this lay-by and a canopy for it, it means we have to rebuild the splash wall and install a flood gate, we can't expect the taxpayer to fork out.
"As for the sea bed, they are buying a piece of land that actually belongs to the taxpayer.
"This is a private profit-making company and we can't be seen to be doing deals with a company that intends to make a profit at the expense of taxpayers, unless the full council votes and decides otherwise."
38 Comments
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by Steve Pople, weston
Sunday, June 14 2009, 11:45AM
“Just a few late thoughts on this just having caught up with the news.There is this piece of Land? sorry mud,200 metres out covered twice a day by the sea .Now the greedy Tory council call it public land and want rent?for it .
What an opportunistic money grabbing bunch of people you have elected. Next the sea wall enhancement scheme.The pier was there where does the extra work come from any flood gates and such should have been in the scheme from the outset.
Why should there even be a charge to park on the beach
I have travelled all over France and Spain .Very rarely do you even pay to park on there sea fronts ,the benefit to all local businesses and economy from this is freedom of charge is huge .People come and go but tend to stay and spend where it is free ..This equals more trade and opportunities for business .Bottom line more local jobs and tax revenue.No tax payers money is being out laid by the council for the pier rebuild just a fictitious amount they would not get if there was nothing happening on the pier.”
by taxpayer, Clevedon
Tuesday, June 02 2009, 11:59PM
“Annette Hennessey - get yourself a job somewhere please - the Portishead pool is finished now, the people of Portishead are running it -so go swim in it!”
by Mike, weston
Tuesday, June 02 2009, 12:19PM
“It's amusing to read the comments from elfan ap rees. Why should anyone be interested in your side of the story when you are part of the council that has consistently failed the town when it comes to encouraging decent planning opportunities that are likely to provide growth and additional wealth. Is there a hidden agenda here? Why is it that everytime someone is interested in developing one of our delapidated attractions (Knightstone pier, tropicana, airfield and now the Grand pier) the council always shove a spanner in the works.
£345,000 would not be a lot of money to a wealthy, prosperous town that has a council who is willing to work with developers and encourage growth rather than spend all their time building brick walls in front of them. If it was a new housing estate, it would no doubt go through without a hitch.
We live in a great part of the country, we have good weather, lots of real estate and lots of opportunity for growth. Unfortunately, it all accounts for nothing because we also have WSM town council !!!”
by Paul, St George
Saturday, May 30 2009, 7:57PM
“Dammit, he plays a good game of BLUFF!!!”
by robert Coleman, Nailsea
Saturday, May 30 2009, 4:54PM
“why has the Leader and Executive discrimnated agaist a local businesman., as they say "they cannot support private business". Yet they did not ask for the £300,000 to be paid back from the waste industry when the exterrnal audiitor accused North Somerset Council of corrupt practices in the waste management department, in his Public Interest Report placed on the Audit Commision website October 2008. why the short debate at the Council meeting of 18th November 2008, when the Council decided not to report the matter to the Police. What do they hide and why?
Why the discrimination. Who benefits?”
by george, Briz
Saturday, May 30 2009, 3:38PM
“And I thought Bristol had the worse council in the country!”
by 10cent, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Saturday, May 30 2009, 10:53AM
“Looks like we have another eyesore in the making on Weston seafront to go along with the old pool site.”
by elfan ap rees, Locking
Saturday, May 30 2009, 9:07AM
“Interesting to read the varied comments but some misunderstand the situation.Firstly Mr Michael's own advisers have ,I think,Advised him very badly and have themselves put so many obstacles in the way that it is no wonder the legal bills are mounting up.
The simple fact now is that Mr Michael wants the tax payer to pick up a £354,000 bill ,including £150,000 of the Pier's own estimates for building a canopy for a lay by that only the Pier wants. Quite rightly ,in my opinion ,the Council Leader is not prepared to agree to that without seeking a mandate from the Full Council.Mr Michael apparently doesn't want to wait for that vote .
£354,000 is a lot of money..(it would fill quite a few potholes ! ) and North Somerset is already faced with serious budget cuts like most councils.All this has to be balanced against the obvious benefits the Pier brings to Weston and the fact that it will be a private profit-making enterprise.
Perhaps one option ,if there is a cash flow issue ,is to lend the money ...or take a share of the profits after it is completed...that way the tax payer doesn't lose out ? !”
by Phil, Brizzle
Friday, May 29 2009, 10:29PM
“The Council said they "weren't treating them any different to other businesses"... isn't that the actual problem? We're not talking about some back street curry house here. The pier IS Weston-Super-Mare and the owners are wealthy private equity holders who want to invest a huge chunk of their own money in rebuilding WSM's raison d'etre. Yes, they will profit from it, they have a right to benefit from their investment but WSM benefits ten-fold over and above the owners. Without the pier why would you want to go to Weston? The food? The Friday night puke-ups and punch-ups?
If this was Marseille or Barcelona or Miami (or anywhere else in the world but WSM) the Council would give them a rent free period to help them get the thing completed more quickly and the money rolling into the town. So what if the tax payer has to fork out for some infrastructure improvements? Are they not going to benefit as well from the improvements, not to mention all the 'stay-cation' tourism money rolling in to the town? This is a classic example of how Councillors have no nous when it comes to business and WSM should run their trade and commerce more like a business, not some soap box for diminutive white collar Napoleons.
I'm off to Devon & Cornwall instead this year.”
by tony, Mangotsfield
Friday, May 29 2009, 8:37PM
“Stupid bl ood y pen pushing council monkey! Good work to pull out of re-building the peir, go somewhere, where regeneration will be appreciated as WSM obviously doesn't need it. I can't work out in my head how not having an attraction is going to attract money spending tourists being a private company or not this benefiting all business in WSM? I see a seaside with only stags and hens puking on the beach rather than a family destination now.”