Work expected to start next month on expansive (and expensive) revamp of Pier Gardens

                                                

Pier Gardens - likely to be out of bounds for the best part of a year 

FIRMS wishing to carry out the £5.85-million 'rejuvenation' makeover of Pier Gardens have been given until 1pm tomorrow (Friday October 10) to submit their bids.

Because of intermittent changes in the specifications, there have been several extensions  to the deadline, but this is likely to be the last.

After North East Lincolnshire Council has assessed the bids and awarded the contract, work is expected to start in the first half of next month.

Over the past two years, there have been various tweaks and 'reconfigurations' so it is not entirely clear how Pier Gardens will end up looking.

The concept is for various 'rooms' or zones - some leafy and tranquil, others bustling and noisy.

Proposed features include a skate park, play towers,  a stage,  a splash pool, a water play area  and a slide reaching down the top of the embankment almost to central promenade.

It is not clear how many shrubs and how much lawn area will be lost to the refurbishment, but NELC has always insisted that no healthy trees will  be removed.

During the works, it is likely that the  perimeter of Pier Gardens will be surrounded by hoarding.

Normally, a project on this scale would have been  required to go through North East Lincolnshire Council's formally planning process. This would almost certainly have been  required if the scheme had been instigated by a private sector organisation.

However, NELC  has decided to proceed without having submitted a planning application, let alone having secured consent.

The authority says it has taken advice and deemed its approach to be lawful under the terms of the Town and Country Planning Act.

If all goes to plan, the project will be completed by Christmas next year.

The Grimsby News says: We remain open-minded on whether Pier Gardens really requires the radical revamp that is being proposed. The completed project will probably delight some and dismay others. What is of concern is firstly the lack of clarity and secondly a shortfall in consultation with the public. Because no planning application has been submitted, residents and nearby businesses have been deprived of a forum in which to express their views. There has been no opportunity to peruse submissons  either from consultees such as the Environment Agency, Historic England, Natural England or from some of the council's own departments - highways, ecology, drainage, heritage and more. NELC sparked a squall  of outrage when, at a cost of £17,000, it removed from Pier Gardens a  much-cherished hedge maze. If it gets things wrong with its operations on the rest of the site, the outrage will be more than a squall - it will be a hurricane.