Millport Pier demolition protest

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Jcorstorphine

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It appears that North Ayrshire Council are hell bent on demolishing the wooden section of Millport Pier.

There is a sit in (on) organised for Saturday 26th August at 3:00 PM to protest against the the demolition of the Pier. Just wondered if any Clyde based yachts were passing Millport aground 15:00 on Saturday would like to add to the protest.

XC Forecast is Westerly (ish) F3 (ish)

http://www.largsandmillportnews.com..._in__event_on_Saturday_to_save_Millport_Pier/
 
It would be sad if they demolished it. When I was there last year it seemed to me that as long as they stopped cars using it permanently there were only a few thousand pounds worth of repairs to do. Why don't the locals do a bit of crowd funding?
 
Is this because with the pier gone they no longer have to leave room for the Waverley and so can reinstate that dodgy pontoon scheme about which there was all the fuss a few years back?
 
JumbleDuck said:
Is this because with the pier gone they no longer have to leave room for the Waverley and so can reinstate that dodgy pontoon scheme about which there was all the fuss a few years back?
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We were there with our placards to Save the Pier. Strange as it may seem the wooden section of the old pier does provide some attenuation of the wave height during storms and there is a concern that if the pier is removed before there is additional flood prevention in place, there could be a higher risk of flooding along the western end of the Main Street. As to the dodgy pontoon, they were removed as the then "Lord of the Wee Cumbrae" complained that he could not get access at all time for his motor boat.

Here is a link to the flood prevention schemes being looked at, one of them to build a long armour bolder breakwater out to the small islands.

https://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/council/consultations/millport-coastal-fps.aspx
 
JumbleDuck said:
..., but a tragedy if the pier was lost.
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Is there just a touch of hyperbole there? It may or may not be a good thing (NAC must have their reasons for wanting to demolish it, and I dare say there is some reason that a group of locals want to keep it) but a tragedy?
 
ylop said:
... hyperbole there? ..... NAC must have their reasons .....
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They probably don't have any reason, maybe it was a quiet day at the council and someone idly thought it would be a good idea to demolish a pier; now look where we are!
 
ylop said:
Is there just a touch of hyperbole there? It may or may not be a good thing (NAC must have their reasons for wanting to demolish it, and I dare say there is some reason that a group of locals want to keep it) but a tragedy?
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There are very few piers left on the Clyde - I think the last one to be lost was Innellan - and if Millport goes it will end a very long tradition as well as seriously affecting visitor income there. So yes, I think it would be a tragedy if not, perhaps, one of the world's greatest tragedies. We returned home from our summer cruise this year by taking the Waverley "up the watter", and the trip is constant reminder of what has been lost. Ships, piers, shipyards, communities, traditions. I really don't want us to lose any more.
 
I much prefer tying up to a pier than using pontoons (or moorings) and would lament the loss of millport's. Especially as the island seems to be slowly on the up again, losing their pier will not help the island economy.
The waverley cannot come to the pier anymore, which is why I think its being demolished. The choice is spend the money to fix it, or spend the money to demolish it. The accts say the latter is the cheaper, but no long term thinking onvolved or regard for the impact on the islands economy, future prospects, or the potential costs from flooding in storms.
 
steve yates said:
I much prefer tying up to a pier than using pontoons (or moorings) and would lament the loss of millport's. Especially as the island seems to be slowly on the up again, losing their pier will not help the island economy.
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It's sad to see how much the links between communities and the sea around the Firth of Clyde have disappeared.

When I was a child on holiday there in the 70s, Bute offered trips from Rothesay on the Waverley, Queen Mary II and, later the Glen Sannox. You could take a trip through the Kyles on the Gay Queen (stop sniggering at the back) with her singing skipper or hire a rowing dinghy from two providers in Rothesay or two in Port Bannatyne, where the steamer pier was still just about in service as a fuelling station for fishing boats. Nowadays there are a few trips by the Waverley, when she's not bust, and that's your lot unless you arrive in your own boat.

Similarly Cumbrae had visits from the Waverley and a passenger service (including cruises) on the Keppel from Millport Pier as well as the car ferry, and there were numerous trip boats operating from movable piers-on-rails at Largs. Just one left, as far as I can see.

Maybe this just reflects a lack of interest in getting on the water, but I think it's a shame.
 
JumbleDuck said:
It's sad to see how much the links between communities and the sea around the Firth of Clyde have disappeared.



Maybe this just reflects a lack of interest in getting on the water, but I think it's a shame.
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It is a shame. I like to think that the body that has been trying hard to reverse this over the last 10 years, getting communities back onto the water is the scottish coastal rowing association with their St Ayles skiffs. Skiffs have been built in Tighny, Lochgilphead, Greenock, Arran, Cumbrae, Largs, Irvine, Girvan, Troon, Maidens, Greenock........ if you live in another clyde town feel free to start up a boat build and get your community back onto the water.

www.scottishcoastalrowing.org
 
Romeo said:
It is a shame. I like to think that the body that has been trying hard to reverse this over the last 10 years, getting communities back onto the water is the scottish coastal rowing association with their St Ayles skiffs. Skiffs have been built in Tighny, Lochgilphead, Greenock, Arran, Cumbrae, Largs, Irvine, Girvan, Troon, Maidens, Greenock........ if you live in another clyde town feel free to start up a boat build and get your community back onto the water.

www.scottishcoastalrowing.org
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Absolutely. I had a go in Girvan skiff when a whole bunch of them visited Loch Ken last year, and great fun it was too ... although I did catch a monumental crab. I blieve that Annan #2 is under construction but otherwise the Solway coast is sadly devoid of them. I was involved in a group trying to build one for Dalbeattie/Kippford/the Urr but local politics sank it.
 
On the other hand, if the council do put a breakwater in it would improve the shelter as an anchorage.
 
lpdsn said:
On the other hand, if the council do put a breakwater in it would improve the shelter as an anchorage.
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Probably not, as if the wind has any south in it, you would still be rolling about on the swell. I agree though that it would be a shame to loose yet another pier, as this just seems to be the same sort of situation as at Inverary.
 
JumbleDuck said:
Is this because with the pier gone they no longer have to leave room for the Waverley and so can reinstate that dodgy pontoon scheme about which there was all the fuss a few years back?
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Is that the floating plastic boxes that were there about 20 years ago?
 
Spyro said:
Is that the floating plastic boxes that were there about 20 years ago?
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My memory is shaky about this, but I think that a few years back there was a scheme to fit pontoons along the east side of the pier. They were either never installed or removed because of objections that they impaired access to moorings. Or something. Any Cumbrans able to correct me?
 
Martin&Rene said:
Probably not, as if the wind has any south in it, you would still be rolling about on the swell. I agree though that it would be a shame to loose yet another pier, as this just seems to be the same sort of situation as at Inverary.
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If you look at the option drawings you'll see that options 3a and 3b have the main entrance with a breakwater right across it and access only via the channel west of the Leug.

Option 1 doesn't look so bad imho

https://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/Documents/FloodProtection/5-Modelling-results-March-2017-FINAL.pdf
 
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