The owners of a popular pier have unveiled ambitious plans to restore a landmark seaside structure back to its former glory.
A scheme to restore the decking and make it accessible again has taken a step forward with the completion of the first eight-metre section of the historic Claremont Pier in Lowestoft.
Built in 1903, Claremont Pier has stood for almost 120 years at the heart of town on Lowestoft’s South Beach.
After being taken over by new owners in July 2020, they set their sights on long term plans to extend the existing decking to its original length.
The owners, Edward and Charmaine Mayne, their eldest child Victoria Manning and her husband Michael Manning, son Ernie Mayne as well as daughter Charmaine Llewellyn and her husband Ben Llewellyn have made significant investment in the pier already.
A new rooftop terraced seating area has been created, the amusement arcade has been made bigger, an ice cream parlour, Piranha Joes Beach Bar and Bar 20 have been opened, the fish and chip restaurant has been refurbished and a performance, music and event area called The Venue has been launched.
Now Charmaine and Ben Llewellyn have revealed the completion of the first stage of the re-decking project.
They said: "Our contractor started doing the re-planking in June and we opened for visitors in mid-July.
"Work has now been suspended until the winter while we wait for the Kittiwakes to stop nesting along the edge of the old decking.
"We can’t do anything until they have gone, and they should stop nesting at the end of August.”
Mr Llewellyn said: “I am in talks with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) to discuss what we plan when we re-deck the pier.
"There is potential that we might lose the nests on the side of the pier, but in their place, we plan to put shelters and nesting roosts at the end of the pier.
"We would then site CCTV cameras on them so that people can watch the birds on monitor screens.”
With the owners aiming to get the decking replaced since they bought the pier, Mr Llewellyn said: "After two years we are getting somewhere at last.
"The pier deck is 150 metres long in total.
"Having completed the first section we are planning to replace the next 60m of decking over the beach – then maybe in the future the remaining 60m - but that would be over the sea and would incur a huge extra cost.
"We have funded the decking that has been done so far by ourselves and it has cost us around £30,000 to do eight metres with timber called Ekki, which was shipped in specially."
With the next phase of work to re-plank a further 60m, Mr Llewellyn said: "Hopefully we can have it open for next year, but it depends on what funding is available.
"Our vision for the future, is to have sufficient funds to widen the decking from 5m to 15m but that would entail constructing three new rows of pillar supports consisting of 33 new piles in total and that would cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.
"It is our dream but could be more affordable that re-planking out over the sea."
The owners said that when the next section is ready to open it will have new side railings.
Mr Llewellyn said: "We envisage it being a walkway and viewing area where people can just walk out.
"We just want to get it back open again."
To fund the restoration work they are selling the old planking, with Lowestoft company Laser-Us engraving the decking boards as "a piece of local history."
Mr Llewellyn said: "Sales to date have been very good with income going to fund the start the next phase in the autumn.
"We are selling the small planks at a cost of £25 and they can be personalised for a further £10 and the larger planks are £30.
"They can be purchased from our coffee shop."
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