It's only relatively recently that the North Pier has had a gate on it at all. Certainly when I was previously a member in the 1980s there was no gate and the club was thriving back then.
Maybe peoples expectations have changed but back in the day you joined the club for the sake of joining the club, the competitions, the insurance and, back then, access to the South Pier (we used to have to walk through the dock to access the South pier back then, showing your photographic dock pass at the security hut and wearing a hard hat and hi-viz).
Will they allow access to the public without putting railings up? In this day and age of ambulance chasing lawyers I can't see it but even if they do there will likely be a locked gate which, like South Shields, is open for public access during the day but would still need a members key to get on after dark.