Bournemouth Pier: landing stages to go as restoration is scaled back
Bournemouth Pier's deteriorating landing stages are being removed after an engineering inspection, and the full restoration of the pier has been scaled back.
The deteriorating timber landing stages under Bournemouth Pier are to be removed, after a specialist engineering inspection found they pose an immediate risk to people using the water below and to the concrete substructure of the pier itself. Dorset View reported the decision on 21 September.
The first phase is the removal of roughly 600 metal floor grilles that form the floor of the lower level of the landing stages. Each weighs around half a ton, and the work is expected to take 11 to 12 weeks. Later phases will remove the remaining timber structures and repair the concrete substructure.
What happened to the full restoration
The pier was meant to get a comprehensive programme: concrete repairs, an impressed-current cathodic protection system to slow corrosion, and the removal of the timber landing stages, over about 18 months. BCP Council has said it was not able to find a suitable contractor for that project.
Money moved too. The pier had been allocated £9.6m from the council's £20m Levelling Up award. A share of that has since been redirected to stabilising the East and West Cliffs and to structural work on Boscombe Pier, leaving enough for essential safety work rather than a full restoration. The BCP Green Party, which has followed the papers closely, summarised the changes on 9 September. We cover the cliff works, which start this month, in East Cliff stabilisation begins.
What it means for a visit
The pier is the centre of the seafront: the zip wire launches from it, the Oceanarium and the pier approach sit at its foot, and every walk along the promenade passes it. The removal work is below the deck, on the landing stages that once served pleasure boats, and nothing published so far suggests the deck or its attractions will close for it. If the pier is the point of your trip, it is worth a glance at the council's seafront pages before you travel.
The wider picture is a seafront with several structures under repair at once. The cliffs, the pier and Boscombe Pier are all on the list this autumn, which is a reason to check what is open rather than a reason to stay away: the beach, the promenade and the gardens carry on as normal. Our guide to things to do in Bournemouth has the current picture, and the beaches guide covers every stretch of sand from Sandbanks to Hengistbury Head.
Frequently asked questions
Nothing published so far says the pier deck, the zip wire or the attractions on the pier will close while the landing stages are removed. The work is on the lower level, below the deck. Check the council's seafront pages before a visit if the pier is the reason for your trip, and we will update this article if that changes.
BCP Council said it could not find a suitable contractor for the full 18-month project, and part of the pier's original Levelling Up allocation was redirected to stabilising the East and West Cliffs and to structural work on Boscombe Pier. What remains funds essential safety work rather than a complete restoration.
