Council serves purchase order for Birnbeck Pier

North Somerset Council offered the owners £1 to sell the pier in July and avoid it being forcibly taken into public ownership

North Somerset Council has served a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to the private owners of Birnbeck Pier.

It intends to “immediately” transfer the Weston-Super-Mare site to the RNLI.

The RNLI said it would oversee the repair of the Grade II* listed pier, the return of public access and the demolition of unsafe structures.

Owners CNM Estates said it intends to "challenge" the CPO and "welcomes" the judicial process so "facts can be independently scrutinised."

The company was served an order to carry out repairs in September last year, but no work has been done.

The council announced in June the RNLI was looking to invest in the pier and move its operation back to the island.

"Early" concept designs have been released as part of the CPO, which the RNLI said are being used as the basis for ongoing work

It has had a lifeboat station on Birnbeck since 1882, but left in 2014 due to the risk to crew safety.

Leader of the council Don Davies said: “We had hoped to avoid the CPO process and for the owner to voluntarily transfer the site to the council or the RNLI, but sadly it seems this will not be the case.

“Following the CPO process it will allow us to purchase the site in a back-to-back deal with the RNLI and get them back on to the island so they can do what they do best – saving lives."

Within the CPO statement, the RNLI said a return to Birnbeck would deliver “a modern life-saving facility” with safe access to water 24/7.

The 153-year-old Victorian pier has been closed to the public since 1994

It added it would see the long-term sustainable re-use of the island and pier as a “heritage offering with a café” that would be a place for people to visit to celebrate the RNLI’s 200 years of lifesaving history.

The RNLI estimates the pier will cost about £100,000 a year to maintain and repair and this can be met by pier revenue and income earned from the site.

The target date for completion of the project, based on RNLI's project plan, would be early 2024.

A spokesperson for CNM Estates said: "Our legal team will be lodging an appeal, in the first instance, at the magistrates court, however regardless of this we intend to commence with the vital repair works necessary to bring Birnbeck Pier back to life and regenerate the northern end of the town.

"We have already appointed a specialist project team with extensive experience in repairing heritage assets to repair and restore the pier.

"As stated by North Somerset Council, the repair works can only be done in phases and therefore, as part of this work, we have submitted a listed building application to respond to high-priority repair areas and are awaiting the determination of this application so urgent works and surveys can commence before the winter months. Further applications for the next phases are being prepared and will be submitted in early October."

The CPO will be submitted to the Secretary of State, who will have to be satisfied there is a compelling case in the public interest for it to proceed.