Rochester's pier finally resurfaced after five years closure
It was initially deemed unsafe in 2019 and later sunk into the esplanade.
Today, it's back and with it exciting plans for the future - including food trucks and entertainment. With the hope of making it a new social hub in medway.
Today, it's back and with it exciting plans for the future - including food trucks and entertainment. With the hope of making it a new social hub in medway.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00The historic Rochester pier was closed down. Today, five years later, it's been reopened
00:05and I'm here today to find out more.
00:07After its initial closure in 2019, the council deemed the brow of the pier
00:11unsafe after an inspection.
00:14Over two years ago, it then collapsed into the River Medway, lying submerged in the water,
00:19and plans were then discussed to remove it and restore the area to its former glory,
00:23which has began to take shape.
00:25So what we were able to do was do the major work to remove the damaged floating sections,
00:32but it still meant that we weren't in a position to open up the upper section of the pier.
00:37What we've been able to do more recently is get that ship shape and,
00:42in partnership with the friends of Rochester Churchfields and Esplanade,
00:46carry out bits of maintenance, a lick of paint here and there,
00:50and ongoing support from them that mean that we can now open the gates
00:54and give people in Rochester and the rest of Medway access back to this fantastic asset.
01:02Volunteers from Charity, friends of Rochester Churchfields and Esplanade,
01:06have dedicated their time to fixing the area and have carried out work to showcase it better.
01:12We are currently undertaking some restoration work,
01:15so we're painting, we've given it a really good clean.
01:18We also have a plan to improve the arrangements for seating, so we have some benches planned.
01:26We've painted some of the existing planters and we plan to put some plants in and some
01:33window boxes perhaps along, maybe a bar, maybe even live music.
01:38With help from this charity and the Council, plans are now underway to bring more tourism
01:43and attraction to this part of Rochester and are keen to maintain the historical area.
01:48And it's great that it's been repaired, it's going to be a great
01:51place for people to come and visit and sit down by the river.
01:54No, I mean they've cleared up all of that, there was so much junk there with the broken pier,
01:58so that's really nice, it's nice to see it's all done.
02:02Done a really, really fantastic job and it's a lot better than
02:05walking past every day and seeing it kind of sliding into the Medway so to speak.
02:10Kristen Hawthorne for KMTV.