Dunoon's landmark Victorian pier has served as the heart of our town for generations and is "the best surviving example of a timber ferry/steamer pier in Scotland". Unfortunately, it is currently on the Buildings at Risk Register and is in danger of being condemned and partially demolished given its current state of disrepair. However, I believe that there is a desire and demand within the local community to try and do something about it. 

Restoring the pier extends beyond just preserving an iconic historic feature of Dunoon's shoreline; it presents an opportunity to create employment and enhance leisure and tourism activities within the area. The restoration effort could drive economic change within the town and turn what is currently a burden and eyesore into an asset which delivers real value to the community. 

The first step in the process is to understand the scale of appetite within the the community to pursue a restoration effort - which this petition will be used to demonstrate. If there is sufficient demand, this petition will be delivered to our elected representatives at Argyll and Bute Council to illustrate that this is a priority for our community. The Council have recently been awarded £20m in grant funding via the Levelling Up Fund; an argument could be made that some of this money should be used to fund a restoration effort of the Pier as per their original application to the fund. 

The Council have indicated their desire to fix the pier, however they may be  unable to commit funds to a restoration project in the short term. If this is the case, alternative options are available via community ownership and grant funding. All of which could be explored further via. working group. 

I'm sure that there will be a lot of people with loads of ideas on this, I've therefore set up a dedicated e-mail address: savedunoonpier@gmail.com. Please feel free to send an email with any ideas or thoughts and I will get back to you. 

How You Can Help: If you would like to see something done about the pier, please sign and share this petition to demonstrate community backing for the pier's restoration.