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.
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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.