Margate RNLI reveal new lifeboat station plans

KentOnline / KMTV

The 50 year old building will be demolished and a new site built up in September, but the service will continue to run throughout that time.  Finn Macdiarmid reports.

Transcript

00:00It's protected the people from the tides for nearly 50 years, but now Margate's lifeboat

00:05station has been marked for an upgrade. The RNLI site will have modern crew training

00:09and changing facilities that the team say will let the station flow better, transitioning

00:14from work in the office to the deployment of lifeboats. The current building will be

00:18demolished and rebuilt by September, but the service will still run until then.

00:23We will maintain a 24-hour service, 365 days a year, so we have been kindly given some

00:30space by our neighbours at the Yacht Club so we can set up one of the temporary stations

00:36in there for the D-Class lifeboat, and then the Atlantic 85 will be in the car park of

00:43the Turner Centre who have kindly lent us that bit of land to set up a temporary station there.

00:48So we will maintain throughout the summer and the winter a full operational service.

00:53Now the Margate RNLI lifeboat station has served them for about 50 years, but even their own

00:58members will tell you that it's getting old, so they came up with this.

01:03The new site will have a sustainable infrastructure with solar panels and a ground source heat pump

01:07to minimise running costs, but the charity are turning to the public to raise the £3.5 million

01:12they'll need for the development, which is designed to match the evolved modern RNLI compared

01:17to the current building.

01:18The building itself is basically an at-cost barn, which at the time they called this the

01:26Margate Hilton, because lifeboat stations were always, well typically very old, but now it's

01:35really served us well, but it has come to the end of its life.

01:40Even though the RNLI are changing their base, they told us they still expect a huge number

01:45of people to come to Margate's coast and remain committed to protecting them during the summer

01:49season.

01:50So we've got a few key safety messages that we'd like to promote in the RNLI.

01:55The first one is obviously come to a lifeguarded beach, we'll be here from 10 to 6, we're really

02:00welcoming and we want people to come and talk to us.

02:03Whilst you're down at a lifeguarded beach, the most important thing to do is swim in between

02:06our red and yellow flags.

02:09If you do get into difficulty, put your hand up and shout for help and the lifeguard will come

02:13and get to you, but as you get to the beach, come and chat to us.

02:16So with this summer bringing heatwaves, it's not the only change soon to come that locals

02:20and tourists might spot on Margate's seafront.

02:23Finn McDermid for KMTV in Margate.

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