An order allowing North Somerset Council to compulsory purchase Weston-super-Mare’s dilapidated Birnbeck Pier is likely to be issued this summer.

North Somerset Council has been working with Historic England over the past months to look at how it can secure the future of Birnbeck Pier, including using a compulsory purchase order (CPO) on the landmark.

Part of the superstructure of Birnbeck Pier was damaged following Storm Dennis

Evidence and background documents needed for the CPO have now been pulled together.

Councillors will be asked to agree the move to issue the CPO to the owners of the pier when it meets in July.

A council spokesman said: “Officers have been working on the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) over the last few months with Historic England, pulling together background documents and evidence required for the CPO.

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“To date, we have had authority to work on this document by North Somerset Council’s Executive.

“To serve the CPO to the current owner of Birnbeck, we need full council agreement.

“This will take place at the start of July.”

North Somerset Council issued the owner of the crumbling pier – CNM Estates – with a repairs notice in September.

The notice ordered the company, headed by Wahid Samady – to carry out a series of ‘necessary repairs’ to the landmark.

Birnbeck Pier

Mr Samady was given two months to respond to the notice.

Historic England allocated a grant to the council of £127,000, to be used should a compulsory purchase of the Grade II* listed structure be needed.

Detailed surveys of the pier have been carried out by external engineers to assess the work needed to bring the pier back to the condition it was when it was listed in 1983.

Birnbeck Pier is Grade II* listed with five further Grade II structures and buildings located on the island and the inward end of the site, including entrance gates and turnstiles, a clock tower, Toll house lodge, North jetty and the former lifeboat house and slipway.

The pier was designed by Eugenius Birch the noted Victorian engineer.

Construction took place between 1862 and 1867, with the foundation stone being laid in 1864 and opening to the public from 1866.

The pier closed to the public for safety reasons in 1994 and is now on a Buildings at Risk Register.

The town's RNLI lifeboat service – based on the landmark for 131 years - was forced to move off the island in 2013 after concerns for the crew's health and safety because of the dilapidated state of the structure.

Part of the north jetty - where paddle steamers and passenger ferries used to dock - has already collapsed and the condition of the structure has continued to deteriorate.

And with fears of more bad weather, there are fears the structure could soon fall completely into the sea.

The pier is the only one in the country which links the mainland to an island.

Birnbeck Pier around 1910 when it was in its heyday
Birnbeck Pier around 1910 when it was in its heyday

CNM Estates purchased the pier in 2012 after major redevelopment plans fell by the wayside.

It was already in a poor state following years of neglect.

The Birnbeck Pier Regeneration Trust, a registered charity, has been working for several years looking at the feasibility of projects to bring the structure back into use.