How many of these properties are vacant ?
Certainly, the council is increasing their housing stock, but I wonder what the true impact will be to the council housing waiting lists.
Very little, I suspect.
Seems to me what the council is actually doing is purchasing the increased responsibility for housing maintenance.
South Parade Pier’s owners face liquidation over unpaid energy bills. The danger is if the owners of the pier have to close it down due to lack of income then the real rot will set in. All the while the pier is in active use there is a chance for it to be maintained and refurbished. As soon as the usage declines then so does the state of repair.
Everyone knows that these structures are expensive to maintain due to the harsh, salty and damp environment that they are in. There must be an argument for Portsmouth City Council or even Hampshire County Council stepping in and providing some degree of subsidy to ensure that South Parade Pier doesn’t go the way of Hastings and Brighton piers.
Seaside piers are part of our heritage. Many have succumbed to extreme weather, arsonists and old age. We almost lost South Parade Pier a few years ago, no thanks to Ken Russel and his crew who were filming Tommy at the time. We don’t want that to happen again.
Its time for local government or even national government to step in.
WrAnTz 