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Read More£100k Community Share Boost
Now this is what I call a wonderful bonanza at this special time. The Shotley pier group, or Shotley Heritage Charitable Community Benefit Society to give the official name, has been awarded match-funding up to £100,000. The Co-op’s Power to Change Community Share Booster Programme is prepared to match every pound raised by our community share issue, and have also awarded us a £5,000 development grant. That means if you buy (just a pledge is fine right now) a couple of £25 shares then the booster fund will double it, meaning your donation is worth £100. The combined total of £200,000 would go a long way to achieving the group’s target of £350,000 to buy, repair and renovate the Victorian pier opposite the Bristol Arms at Shotley Gate. A community share prospectus, with shares priced at £25 each, will be ready by the end of January 2017. Meanwhile people interested in owning part of the pier can pledge now.
Read MoreSpreading The #PledgePier Word
What a year it has been for those interested in buying, restoring and renovating the pier. Our community group formed into a legal entity, the Shotley Heritage Charitable Community Benefit Society Ltd, a bit of a mouthful, so more informally known as the Shotley Pier Group. People can now pledge funds online or sending in a printed form, and can make donations with the added attraction of Giftaid, or buy Community Shares This website has been set up, you will see the links to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google+ all of which will help spread the word. We have attracted a good deal of local interest so far, with interviews with Mark Murphy, James Hazell, Stephen Foster and Lesley Dolphin on BBC Radio Suffolk, articles in the In Touch magazine, Shotley Noticeboard and Chelpin, along with features in the East Anglian Daily Times, reproduced in the Ipswich Star, while BBC Look East have filmed the pier and interviewed the group several times. But the best way of getting our message out there is through you. So please share on social media (all the buttons are below), tell your friends and use the hashtag #PledgePier, wherever possible. placard photos
Read MoreThe Board Is Formed
On the evening of Thursday 8 December 2016, the founding members appointed founding directors to create the first Board on the Shotley Heritage Charitable Community Benefit Society Ltd. The objects of the Society shall be to carry on any business for the benefit of the community by: (a) Preservation, protection, renovation, reconstruction and enhancement of the structures, maritime effects and related artefacts of historical and architectural merit in the area known as Shotley Peninsula, Suffolk and its environs (“the area of benefit”) for public benefit and (b) The promotion of the area of benefit as a community and heritage destination for recreational purposes for the benefit for all its inhabitants and visitors. Please visit our Shotley Heritage website here to view more information about members of the Board. At an SGM in November 2017, the objects were amended so that verbs were used instead of nouns, being an important distinction when applying for charitable status, they have to be “doing” words rather than descriptive. So following a unanimous vote, the new objects, with the amended parts underlined : The objects of the Society shall be for the public benefit to: (a) Preserve, protect, renovate, reconstruct and enhance the structures, maritime effects and related artefacts of historical and architectural merit in the area known as Shotley Peninsula, Suffolk and its environs (“the area of benefit”);and (b) Promote the area of benefit as a community and heritage destination for recreational purposes for the benefit for all its inhabitants and visitors.
Read MoreWhen Is A Pier Not A Pier?
A Pier /pɪə/ noun A platform on pillars projecting from the shore into the sea, typically incorporating entertainment arcades and places to eat. A Railway Pier Sometimes called pier tramways – a railway pier provides transport via railway lines along the length of a pier. Contrary to the name, Shotley Railway Pier has never seen any trains. Its name comes from the railway lines along the length of the pier on which railway trucks, aka dollies, were used on the rails to transport Royal Mail from Harwich to Shotley. The mail was delivered at the pier and transported up the hill, to be sorted at the Shotley Gate Post Office before making its way into Ipswich. It was a working pier, used by fishermen and ferrymen. It is sturdy and strong, built to withstand the ravages of sea and weather, time and tides.
Read MoreGetting Something Done About The Pier
Whenever visitors enjoy one of the many fine hostelries on the Shotley peninsula it doesn’t take long for the conversation to get round to one of the following subjects; the main road, what’s happening about the Ganges mast, and when is something going to be done about the pier? The B1456, which is the main road has been a bone of contention, mainly for relative newcomers to the area for many years, although it was once an A road, leading to the HMS Ganges training establishment, and just like in many rural areas, could be better. The 143-ft mast will be replaced once the development at Ganges is started. The development includes building 285 homes and providing a care home and small hotel, along with many other benefits. The pier is the most interesting because it was something that we, as a community with help from far and wide, could get on with and do something about. With my district councillor hat on I was able to muster support from some good people, keen to help develop communities and see sustainable growth and development and a survey was commissioned to see how bad the pier was and what could be done. The report was hugely encouraging, while work obviously needed doing, the structure was not as bad as first thought and so I took it upon myself to see what sort of local support there was to get a pier project underway. It started with a public meeting in the Bristol Arms with more than 40 people turning out on a Tuesday evening to give their views – it was a wonderful start and showed there was a definite feeling that we could progress. A follow up meeting was also well attended and Sally Chicken was elected chair and has proved a great supporter. Although Sally was unable to be at a meeting with the current owner and officials from Babergh we were able to make progress and a third meeting provided the platform to form ourselves as a legal entity and move towards acquiring the funding, through grants and share issue to make the first step and buy the pier. It’s an excellent start and it shows, like the pier itself, we are not just a collection of planks.
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