Locals are ‘furious’ with Plymouth City Council after West Hoe Pier collapsed into the sea on Tuesday amid their failed repair attempts.
We broke the news on Tuesday afternoon that the pier, which is over 100 years old, washed away into the sea during Storm Bram.
Since then, thousands of locals have hit back at the council, accusing them of ‘neglecting’ the Grade 2 listed structure.
The only section of the pier to collapse was the section in which the council removed the core structure.
Residents are furious that the pier, acknowledged by the council to be 'at risk of collapse’, was opened up internally and left overnight without the final stabilising concrete during peak storm season.
Plymouth Plus understands that the council awarded this work to a company that does not specialise in coastal engineering, which then subcontracted part of it out to a specialist coastal engineering firm.
Plymouth City Council has confirmed that the works involved digging into the pier ahead of pouring concrete into the structure to stabilise it, adding that the concrete pour was ‘ironically due’ on the same day the pier failed.
Labour Councillor Chris Penberthy, Cabinet member for Assets, claimed the council delayed work until September to ‘cause as little disruption as possible to businesses during their peak season’.
That claim has been met with disbelief locally, with residents pointing out the pier had already been closed off during the summer and that major works were carried out elsewhere on Plymouth Hoe at the same time, including at Tinside Lido.
Marine engineers have been on site at West Hoe Pier this week to assess the extent of the damage and come up with repair solutions.
The council says their first task will be to ‘put in place additional safety measures’ and have warned that ‘the works and planning will be dynamic for the next few weeks and will, of course, have to take into account tides and weather’.
Rather than using new materials, the council says it plans to retrieve ‘stone that has been washed out into the sea’ for reuse as part of the repair.
This decision has sparked fresh concern about whether cost cutting is being prioritised over long term safety and preservation of our historic structures.
Materials submerged in saltwater can suffer accelerated deterioration, particularly when reintroduced into historic marine structures that are already weakened by age and storm exposure.
The future of West Hoe Pier is now in the hands of the weather, with no certainty that what remains of the historic structure will survive.
You can read more stories on Plymouth City Council by clicking here.
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