Pier Licence At Risk Over Safety Concerns
HUGH SULLIVAN
The future of mass gathering events at Hastings Pier could be under threat when a licensing sub-committee of Hastings Borough Council (HBC) meets on Monday 2 September to review the terms of its premises licence.
The review has been triggered by SECAmb (South East Coast Ambulance Service) after a series of attendances by police and emergency services at major events held at the pier both this summer and in 2023.
The licence for conduct of events on the pier, including sale of alcohol and live music performances, was originally granted to Hastings Pier Charity in December 2015 on the basis that there would be cultural events such as opera nights and open air cinema. Times have changed.
After Sheikh Abid Gulzar became owner in 2018, the licence was transferred between several operators appointed by him. Since February 2023 it has been held in the name of HPier Limited, its director Max Wolf being the named Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS). Events are, however, currently subcontracted out to electronic dance music promoters Damien Fell and Mark Dickson operating through their companies Hastings Pier Events Limited and/or Slap That Sound Limited. The licence now authorises late night refreshment including sale of alcohol, outdoor plays and films, live music, recorded music, dance performances and similar entertainment.
SECAMB REPORT
However, SECamb Operational Commander Martin Watson has provided the council with a report that alleges wholesale breaches of licence conditions for holding mass gathering events with more than 1,000 partygoers. Multiple elements of the licence dealing with public safety – including provisions for crowd control, emergency medical care and safety equipment – have been “absent or inadequate”, according to Mr Watson.
He reports in particular on an unannounced site visit to the Garage Nation event on Saturday 8 June this year, when several fights and ejections were witnessed, fencing and other crowd barriers were observed to be “insufficiently robust”; items of water safety and other safety equipment were apparently missing; and emergency exit routes weren’t clearly marked or managed.
Four weeks later, on 6 July, SECamb received an emergency call reporting a drunk attendee at the event feared at risk of drowning after entering the water beneath the pier, though it’s confirmed that the event’s security staff provided aid.
Mr Watson has told the council that he doesn’t seek revocation of the licence, but does seek a set of revised conditions to be imposed.
Monday’s scheduled review of the licence has been preceded by a consultation at which other authorities and members of the public have offered further observations.
POLICE INVOLVEMENT
Sussex Police have reported eight separate incidents at the pier between July 2023 and July 2024 categorised as one sexual offence, one public order offence and six violent assaults. Complaints about public urination and inadequate toilet facilities have also been made. The police are particularly concerned that there was no functioning CCTV at the premises, even though the licence requires it.
HBC’s Environmental Health officers have complained that repeatedly expressed concerns, both as to safety provisions and as to excessive noise, have been ignored over a long period of time. “Each relevant authority has given lots of advice and guidance to help the operators address issues such as noise disturbances, as well as them being better prepared for emergencies, so they can carry out their response efficiently if/when an emergency occurs. Nothing appears to improve, and we continue to have the same conversation repeatedly. We continue to chase for material such as noise management plans, medical plans, fire risk assessments and water safety equipment, which should all be in place. We cannot continue like this and cannot ignore our concerns, hence the need to review the premises licence.”
Noise complaints have been echoed by householders onshore. Residents of Eversfield Place, Albany Court and Robertson Terrace have noted a marked increase in noise levels this summer from the volume of the music, of the public address system and of “the assembled crowd”, which can endure from 12 noon until up to 10 or 11 at night on Fridays and weekends. A number of complaints have been made to an HBC noise hotline in respect of excessively loud music. Environmental Health officers are said to have visited and made records, but without engendering any effective responses. One resident says that his neighbours “appear to have lost faith that adequate action can be taken”.
There are also complaints of the large amounts of litter that are generated. An inadequate number of bins means that much inevitably ends up in the sea or on the seafront.
No formal responses have been filed publicly from either DPS Max Wolf or from the operating companies, but they will no doubt have been invited to make representations at the hearing on 2 September.
Retrospective approvals
At a meeting of Hastings Borough Council’s planning committee on 14 August, pier owner Sheikh Abid Gulzar obtained retrospective planning permission approving alterations to the pier that have already been undertaken. These constituted replacement of a lattice beam and the installation of an abrasion jacket around a pillar in order to strengthen the substructure, plus the erection of 52 Victorian-style lamp-posts.
Former Pier maintenance engineer Peter Wheeler had filed an objection to the substructure works, arguing that they were technically deficient and failed to address more serious structural problems. “Whilst any repairs to the listed structure should be applauded”, he wrote, “the condition which the Pier structure is in shows the deplorable lack of knowledge, capability, attention and money on this heritage asset”.
There were several objectors to the lamp-posts, described by one (Chris Coombes) as “cheap, out-of-place plastic faux Victorian” and “eroding the very essence of the Pier, leaving little to recognise from the approved design vision”; while another (Chris Hurrell) wrote of them as “add[ing] to the accretion of incoherent additions to the Stirling award-winning pier, which has become a chaotic mix of Skinner’s sheds, storage containers and small kiosks”.
The HBC Conservation Officer made no objection, however, and the councillors on the committee were effectively advised that there was no basis in planning law to have them removed.
What did emerge in the course of the committee debate was that Gulzar still faces potential enforcement action in respect of a number of installations for which he has not sought approval. These include storage containers at the far end of the pier and on the west side of the cafe/restaurant. Moreover, the small striped kiosks were given previous approval for a period of five years only, which has expired.
The long history of conflict between Gulzar and a wide range of public authorities (from magistrates and tax tribunals to local authorities in both Hastings and Eastbourne) is set to continue.
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