Hastings Pier will reopen on Thursday its owners announced this afternoon saying they
‘apologise for any inconvenience’ and ‘look forward to welcoming you back’.

Just a day ago Amber Rudd’s press team sent out a press release headlined “Pier to open for Christmas” but gave no further detail about reopening plans.

Talking about her visit to the pier on Saturday to meet Mr Gulzar Ms Rudd said: “Hastings Pier will continue to be the envy of Britain following its refurbishment.”

She said she had ‘received assurances’ that the landmark would reopen in the coming days following a fire.

Speaking about the fire ten days ago Mr Gulzar said: “The cause was established as an electrical fault. Given that the rebuilding of the restaurant was only two years ago, by the previous owners, this should not have occurred and needed a full investigation.

“We have had a very successful five months since taking the Pier over and this was an unfortunate incident. My staff acted very quickly and the fire officers were very helpful and the damage was minimised.”

Ms Rudd said: “The pier is the perfect place to enjoy some downtime over Christmas and the businesses around there do so much for the community. I was pleased to be hosted by Mr Gulzar to hear about his plans for the pier to go from strength to strength,” although her press release does not give any detail about plans that were discussed.

The pier continues to make news elsewhere with Friends of Hastings Pier holding a meeting last Saturday and among other issues discussed was the fact that it is understood the pier no longer employs permanent engineering and maintenance staff.

A planning application for the siting of five kiosks which the application says would, “take on (the) form of contemporary log cabins” to provide retail space on the pier was expected to be considered by Hastings Borough Council’s planning committee next week but will now not be discussed at that meeting.

More than 66 people have commented on the proposal with one objector, Julia Van Coevorden, saying she feels there has been no ‘respect’ paid to the pier’s Grade II Listed status, while Patrick Cain says: “I’m objecting to this plan as log cabins aren’t in keeping with the pier. I understand that the owner has a desire to make more of a profit from the pier but the buildings need to be sympathetic to the existing design.”

Mr Cain also called on HBC to ‘assert control’ over the pier appearance and to ensure that it is properly cared for.