What does the future hold for the pier?

A public meeting has been called to discuss of Herne Bay's iconic pier.

Ed Targett, the prospective Green Party MP for Herne Bay, has called a meeting (7pm Sunday, 23rd November at the King's Hall) in order to discuss how the pier could be extended or rebuilt. He claims the short term plans of the Pier Trust, which runs the pier are "profoundly lacking in ambition" and accused them of standing in the way of proposals to rebuild the pier as a £70 million marina.

But Doreen Stone said the timing of the meeting was just a day before the trust is due to take part in ITV's People's Millions programme. She said:

"It is very short notice for the meeting as this is the day before the People's Millions and we will be working on that. I have been working my socks off with the trust for our plans for the pier and we presented this to the Herne Bay members panel (last week). We have no objection to the marina plan. If someone came forward with £70million we would support it. Ultimately, I want to do what is best for Herne Bay because I love the town.We are just trying to provide something fun for people in Herne Bay."

Ed Targett says the public meeting date was chosen to accommodate a group member coming from Spain and said he hopes the pier trust is in its People Millions bid. He added:

"This meeting is a great opportunity for the Pier Trust to present its short term and long term plans and face some robust questioning about them. I've invited them and I really hope they'll turn up. We’ll be revisiting the mothballed Pier Marina plans and three Pier reports for the sake of frank discussion."

Asked what he was hoping for from the meeting, Ed Targett said:

"We can have a robust discussion about should be a vital town asset, perhaps finding some common ground for the future between people who are too frequently at loggerheads, and hopefully we can clarify some apparent confusion about the various plans and reports out there.

No personal attacks, throwing of rotten vegetables, or shouting please... It’s an emotive topic but I'm sure people can 'play nice'. Please do come along and invite friends and family."

The public meeting is at 7pm Sunday, 23rd November at the King's Hall.

HB Times 16th Nov 2014