RNLI losing income due to Mumbles Pier safety concerns

The RNLI says it is losing income due to safety concerns about Mumbles Pier.

The Mumbles Lifeboat Station is located at the end of the pier, but in January its slipway was deemed unsafe and the crew were moved to a temporary station further along the coast.

Concerns have been raised locally about the time it is taking for repairs to be carried out.

The pier owners said they did not currently have the funds to restore the structure.

There has been an RNLI lifeboat at The Mumbles, in Swansea, since 1835 when the local MP arranged with the institution for the purchase of a lifeboat.

A new lifeboat station was opened on the pier in 2014. With crew facilities and a shop, it is one of the busiest in Wales.

But in January 2023, safety concerns meant the slipway used by the all-weather lifeboat had to close and the volunteers were moved to a temporary station further along the coast.

The lifeboat was moved to what is called a swing mooring out at sea, only accessible by using a smaller boat.

The shop, one of the busiest in the region, was also moved and is now housed on tables by the side of the temporary base.

The RNLI's Jo Partner said it was a "really difficult situation - one that we have managed to navigate as best we can".

She said since the structural concerns had been discovered, the RNLI had been working "closely with the pier owners" to ensure its "absolutely safe for our crew and the public".

She stressed the situation had not affected the volunteers' ability to respond to emergencies, but had affected fundraising.

"We've had 22 call outs since the pier was closed and every one of those has been answered and responded to in the normal way that it would be," Ms Partner said.

"We've also got the visitor centre and the shop and the shop is one our biggest revenue generators, so we're losing income all the time the lifeboat station is closed."

Ms Partner said the crew had been "absolutely fantastic" and had "adjusted really well to the change in operating procedure and continue to look after and maintain the boat".

"They have exercised as regularly as they normally would do," she added.

"They continue to operate to save lives at sea for the community."

Mumbles community councillor, Will Thomas, said the situation was frustrating but said it was a private matter for the RNLI and the pier owners.

"The council has very little power to do anything," he added.

Mumbles Pier owners, Fred and Bert Bollom, said they wanted the pier open but did not have the money to restore the structure.

They said they were still waiting for their insurance company to pay following the fire which destroyed their Copperfish Restaurant in August last year.

The pier restoration would cost more than £21m, they said, adding that they and the RNLI have so far invested £17.5m.

They added: "But the money we make from the café and arcade at the pier simply isn't enough to sustain a multi-million-pound restoration project.

"We have worked closely with the RNLI throughout this journey, and we are committed to continuing to work with them to ensure the long-term future of the pier."

They said they were happy for the RNLI to temporarily move rent free to the the inshore lifeboat station "until we are able to progress with the final phase of the pier restoration".