Selsey to get new £150,000 lifeboat station

Chichester District Council gave the nod to the new station at Selsey, which could be built as soon as next year.

Volunteers raised more than £150,000 to help the RNLI fund the new station.

As part of the planning permission, the existing station on the pier will be demolished.

The new structure, in the Kingsway, will house a new lifeboat.

Clive Cockayne, Selsey lifeboat operations manager, said the speed of the new lifeboat – eight knots faster than its predecessor – would increase crews’ ability to save lives.

“We are delighted,” he said. “It secures the future of lifeboating in Selsey for 50 years.”

The new build will include an ‘engagement’ space children and schools can visit during educational day trips, as well as changing facilities, showers, a training room and working space.

Mr Cockayne added: “It will have everything we would want to bring us into the 21st century.”

He said people would no longer be able to risk their lives by jumping off the pier – an activity known as tombstoning.

The station will be one of the first 12 RNLI stations to get a new Shannon lifeboat.

The Shannon is one of the latest designs of all-weather lifeboats and will replace the Tyne-class boat which has been in service since 1983.

The existing station has one small boathouse on the beach and one on a pier which dates back to 1960. This allows the boat to be launched directly into the sea.

The Shannon will be housed inshore and can be driven to the sea. Once it is in place, the current pier can be removed – this is expected to take place between April and September next year.

The lifeboat and station were entirely funded by donations.

There has been some opposition to the plan to demolish the current pier structure as it is seen by some as an iconic part of Selsey’s coastline. Mr Cockayne agreed it would be preferable to convert the pier into a community facility but that would be a multi-million-pound project.