Local historians and preservationists plan to fight proposed demolition.
A week after a local historic group labelled the Colwyn Bat Pier “a tawdry apparition from the past”, the National Pier Society has vowed to fight any attempts to demolish the structure.
Historian Graham Roberts is president of the Civic Society and has this week been criticised by the National Piers Society. Roberts, who has had several books published on his home town, claimed the pier was detrimental to the regeneration effort and that spending millions on its restoration was not justifiable.
Chris Wyatt from the National Piers Society claimed Mr Roberts’ comments were galling. “I found the whole tone of Graham Roberts’ statements completely at odds with the philosophy of the Civic Society movement,” he said.
“His statements – such as ‘You can’t live on nostalgia’ – might be expected from someone with no interest in Wales’ heritage, but coming from the president of a civic society, the majority of whose members we are led to believe are of a similar opinion regarding the pier, leads one to question whether they might be more comfortable in a different organisation altogether.”
He added: “This must be particularly galling for the people of Colwyn Bay who have been fighting very hard to rescue their pier in the face of the extremely difficult situation surrounding its ownership.
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