Cromer Pier repairs of £1.1m agreed by North Norfolk council

Some 33,000 visitors historically watch the end-of-the-pier summer shows in Cromer, Norfolk

Vital repairs to a Grade II listed seaside pier have been approved, despite concerns about the £1.1m cost.

Work on Cromer Pier, which is 121 years old, was agreed by North Norfolk District Council.

Home to the Pavilion Theatre and Cromer lifeboat station, the pier has adorned countless postcards and holiday snaps through the decades.

Conservatives questioned the cost, but the ruling Liberal Democrats said the alternative was dismantling the pier.

Cromer Pier is considered one of Norfolk's most popular tourist attractions.

A repair project began about a decade ago with one phase of the scheme completed just before the pier was hit by a powerful storm surge in 2013, which damaged the structure.

The latest work will focus on the seabed pilings and timber decking, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Cromer Pier in June 2014

Tom FitzPatrick, Tory councillor for Walsingham, said the cost amounted to more than "£10 each for every man woman and child" in North Norfolk, regardless of whether they lived in Cromer or not.

Fellow Conservative Christopher Cushing said: "I know some will call it the jewel of the coast, and for some it is... for others I think it would be a black hole."

He questioned what other options there were and why previous funding had not been enough.

Attractions on Cromer Pier are managed by a private firm for NNDC

Lucy Shires, cabinet member for organisational resources, said it was the third and final phase of the project and was necessary.

"The other option would be to dismantle the pier and I don't think that's what the opposition is suggesting," she said.

Steve Blatch, council chief executive, said the pier underpinned the region's tourism offering.

The works are due to take place between summer this year and next year.

The 114-year-old pier initially had a 1d (1p) entrance charge.

A history of Cromer Pier

As far back as 1391, there are records of a pier - or jetty - at Cromer, from which local produce was loaded onto ships.

In 1822, a 210ft (64mm) long jetty was constructed, made of cast iron supplied by a foundry in Saxthorpe, but it was destroyed in a storm just 24 years later.

It was replaced by another wooden structure, this one a little longer at 240ft (73m).

The jetty became popular for promenading, with a keeper employed to "keep order".

Strict rules meant ladies were required to "retire" from the jetty by nine in the evening.

In 1897, a coal boat smashed into the jetty, damaging it beyond repair.

The town was without a pier until, in 1902, the new pier - which survives to this day - was completed.

It was 450ft (140m) long and cost £17,000.

In the early years, it had glass-screened shelters and a bandstand on the end.

The shelters were roofed over in 1905 to form a pavilion.

The bandstand was later replaced with a stage.

From 1907 this was used to accommodate the latest craze of roller-skating.