The end of Pier Gardens as we know them. Council leader warns of 'summer of disruption'

                                                            

Pier Gardens will never look like this again. Contractors are due to move in at the beginning of May.

AN alert has been sounded that almost a year of disruption is looming in Pier Gardens, Cleethorpes.

Contractors are due  to be on site between early summer this year and early spring next year as they hard-surface lawned areas to make way for play equipment, floodlighting and pitches for stalls and fast food traders.

Enthuses the leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, Cllr Philip Jackson: "I can’t wait to see it all start to come together."

However, he warns: "We cannot do this project without disrupting one summer season."

Preliminary work was carried out last spring when the historic hedge maze was ripped out along with a 'corkscrew' pine tree.

Anyone remember the maze? 

More recently, works on the perimeter of the Sea Road construction site have resulted in whitebeam trees being removed along with a section  of the wildlife gardens.

Despite the Gardens being in a designated Conservation Area,  no planning permission has yet been been secured for any of the works - either those already done or those intended.

But who needs planning permission if you are NELC? The authority  is already seeking bids from any firms, local or beyond, that might be interested in the contract.

After evaluation of tenders between April 7-14 this year, the contract is set to be awarded on the last day  of April. 

The work is then scheduled to start on May 2 and to be completed by March 31 next year.

Says the council: "The selected organisation will require the skills, experience and resources to deliver this high profile scheme and, in doing so, play a key role in delivering part of the council's ambitious Masterplan for Cleethorpes." 

Details about what is envisaged -  particularly on the extent of greenery and wildlife to be sacrificed - remain scanty.

                                          

Part of the dedicated wildlife garden has already been removed 

NELC says there will be " an array of different zones" in the Gardens.

These will include a skatepark at the northern end, water and woodland play areas in the middle and a  "quieter, more serene and contemplative area" opposite The Knoll.

There will also be public art and, bizarrely, "foot washes and bicycle repair stations".

Why the need to remodel the Gardens at all,  given the pleasure they have brought to countless generations of residents and visitors alike?

According to Cllr Jackson's cabinet colleague, Cllr  Ron Shepherd, they are "tired and dated".

What is more, NELC was awarded a £8.57-million levelling-up grant by Boris Johnson's government, so it has to spend the money somehow.

As of mid-February, £613,000 of this allocation has been spent in consultancy and other fees.

Whether the scheme will enhance the Gardens or degrade them remains to be seen.                                      

Plenty of concrete - NELC's vision for a rejuvenated Pier Gardens

The Grimsby News says: The Pier Gardens project will inevitably gather increasing amounts of controversy as it progresses. It may be a triumph or it may be a catastrophe - or it may fall somewhere in between. What has been most striking at this stage is the readiness of the council to proceed even before planning permission has been sought, let alone granted - all the more so given that this is a site of wildlife interest located in a designated Conservation Area. One wonders what companies such as Haven Leisure and the Pleasure Island consortium must make of it all. At colossal expense, they have been obliged to jump through no end of hoops in their quest for planning consent at their respective ventures. By contrast, NELC is happy to  disregard these formalities and to go ahead regardless. Where is the fairness in that?