1,000 signatures reached
To: The Heritage Lottery Fund
Why have the Heritage Lottery Fund sold Hastings Pier?
The Heritage Lottery Fund are selling Hastings Pier, a community asset which was saved with £14m of public money, to Abid Gulzar, a private entrepreneur, for £50k with no consultation with the public.
We are asking the Heritage Lottery Fund to answer the following questions:
- Why have you selected Mr Gulzar's proposal rather than the joint community-commercial proposal of The Friends of Hastings Pier?
- Why have you chosen to go with a quick sale, instead of using the full duration of the 'administration period' up to November 2018?
Why is this important?
Hastings Pier is a community asset which was rebuilt with £14 million pounds of public money.
Despite winning the RIBA Stirling Prize for architecture, the Pier's lack of infrastructure made a sustainable business model impossible without further investment in profitable buildings and entertainment to capitalise on the many visitors the landmark attraction drew.
In November 2017, Hastings Pier Charity's board stepped down, and control was handed to The Heritage Lottery Fund, who committed to finding a long term solution to Hastings Pier. They agreed to prioritise community ownership of the building, and set themselves the deadline of November 2018.
A community group called 'The Friends of Hastings Pier' quickly mobilised and have submitted a proposal in partnership with a commercial operator. The proposal includes joint investment worth £1m, including a crowd funder which is poised to exceed its target of £500k any moment.
The HLF, instead, have chosen to go for a quick sale to a private entrepreneur, handing him ownership of a rebuilt community asset for the sake of private profit.
What is particularly worrying is that the Heritage Lottery Fund are trying to absolve responsibility of this decision - they must answer for their actions and explain how and why this decision was reached.
