James Chang
16th June 2018The People's Pier taken without consent
Dear Friend of Hastings Pier
We are saddened and shocked by the decision of the Administrators to sell our pier to Mr Gulzar, as announced late last night. This decision was made despite our final bid being better in every way - a higher purchase price, a co-investing partnership between the community and an experienced and committed commercial operator, clear and transparent plans for immediate, transition and long term redevelopment, and an absolute commitment to good maintenance forever.
We tried to buy it back from Mr Gulzar on the spot, offering £65,000 to top the paltry amount he paid for this community and civic asset fully-restored at public cost. He refused.
There are a number of actions we could take next and roles that Friends of Hastings Pier could fulfil over the coming years. We are going to take the next few days to reflect and discuss these options and will provide an update next week. As the announcement was made so late on a Friday night, we are taking time out to regroup and explore what options we might have, so for now we are continuing with our project to retain community ownership and our crowdfunder will stay live.
If we find that there are no options for us to continue in our bid for community ownership, as promised, your money will be returned to you and if you wish to end your journey with us at any time, you can cancel your pledge.
If you would like to support Friends of Hastings Pier with expertise or funding, or you just want to stay in touch, please contact us directly at [email protected]. Remember if you don’t write to us we won’t have a way to contact you and keep you informed in future.
And of course, thank you again for all your support - moral and financial - it has meant so much to us and we have come so close to keeping the People’s Pier.
Yours in hope,
The other Friends of Hastings Pier
If Mr Gulzar works seven days a week as he says on managing his three hotels and Eastbourne Pier which he purchased in 2015, he is going to be very stretched to manage another big project. Recently he got permission to put in pvc windows into a building on Eastbourne Pier. He paid £5 million for it, but £65,000 for Hastings Pier. That seems a pretty small sum for a prize winning pier, which has had a huge amount of public money invested in it. I fear the administrators have been overcome by summer fever. The idea that whoever buys it will be rushing to cash in seems highly speculative, given the small amount of income generation possible at the moment. Maybe my knowledge of economics is too sketchy to comment.
18th June 2018I am away in Basque Spain and was having a lovely time until I heard this. Is it even legal. We don't want some monster to take our pier. What happens to the "investment" I made. We have such a special place. I don't want a ghastly entrepreneur to take it downmarket. We will just have to boycott it if it is awful. Just put a sign... Locals don't come here, only you tourists. Locals have been swindled". Please check the legal status. Surely it is illegal. If I can help I will. Save our pier.
16th June 2018