Plans to restore historic Fife pier

Largo pier has fallen into a state of disrepair in recent years, with chunks crumbling into the sea and sections of the pier being lost to the water.

Now, Largo Communities Together hopes to repair the pier to heritage standards and restore it to its importance as a major part of the village.

The group raised funds for temporary repairs in winter, but now it is looking at the pier’s long-term future.

“Last year we raised some funds and got civil engineers to look at the pier to say what we should be doing,” explained Jimmy Simpson’s chairman of the pier sub-group.

“We were given three options.”

The group ran a consultation last month asking for local residents for their thoughts on the future of the pier.

Those taking part were given five options to choose from: do nothing apart from short-term repairs; conduct concrete patching and rebuilding of the pier on the current structure; rebuild the pier using modern technology; rebuild the pier to heritage standards; or a rebuild to heritage standards but with the current length.

Residents were also asked whether they still supported the group in its wish to restore the pier.

“The feeling is that people do support us and that they would like to see the pier rebuilt to heritage standards,” said Jimmy.

“The community is behind us. They don’t want to see the pier in a state of disrepair. The harbour is part of the village.

“We are making progress.

“It is slow, but we never anticipated that it would be fast.”

The group ran its consultation online and through Zoom Q&As, giving people the chance to find out more about the plans.

More consultation could be carried out in the future due to the limitations of lockdown.

The next step is raising money. In the short-term, the group needs to raise funds, from grants or fundraising, to invest in the structure and future repairs after winter.

However, the group faces a big challenge in raising the £1.2 million estimated to bring the pier back up to heritage standards.

While the pier is still owned by the owners of the Crusoe Hotel, the group says it has their permission to carry out repairs.

For more information about the project, visit the website – www.largocommunitiestogether.org.uk/pier/pier.html.