8:00am Tuesday 16th March 2010
By Arron Hendy
SHELTERS on Weymouth seafront are being knocked down.
Weymouth and Portland Borough Council staff have begun taking apart the larger shelter next to the bus stops on the Esplanade close to the King’s Statue.
The shelter was earmarked for demolition as part of the multi-million pound seafront regeneration scheme that fell by the wayside last year when £6.6 million of funding was cut.
The shelter has become a magnet for drunken vagrants and its removal is being welcomed by businesses.
A council spokesman said the shelter was being cleared from the seafront to improve the view from the area around the King’s Statue towards the beach and from the beach towards the Georgian buildings.
He said: “This is the old shelter that’s not of significance that’s being removed.
“It will improve the vista so that people can see across from the beach to the Esplanade and from the Esplanade to the beach.
“It is not one of historical value and this opens up the area.”
The shelter – built in 1937 – is being knocked down this week and will not be replaced.
Next week the council will repair the surface areas of the Esplanade left damaged by the shelter’s removal. The smaller Victorian shelters built in the 1880s have undergone renovation and are being retained.
Louise Harris, owner of Christopher Robin, said she was ‘very happy’ that the shelter is going.
She said: “It will stop all the drinkers gathering there and it will be nicer for the holiday makers waiting for the bus.
“They won’t have to run the gauntlet of them.
“I see it every day.”
Wendy Nicholls, manager at the Rock and Fudge Shop, felt the same.
She said: “This will stop all the alcoholics being there.
“I think that’s everybody’s view.
“In a way it’s a shame – it’s going to spoil it for holidaymakers but they can’t sit there anyway.
“And it will improve the view.”
Historian Maureen Attwooll agreed that it was time for the building to go.
She said: “It has become something of an eyesore of late so personally I shall not miss it very much.”
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