A CONTROVERSIAL watersports club at Weir Quay which has divided the community was supported by Bere Ferrers Parish Council on Tuesday night.

Members voted in favour of the scheme by seven votes to one with one abstention at a special full council meeting to discuss the issue.?It was attended by around 70 members of the public.

The council's recommendation to support will be taken into consideration by West Devon Borough Council's planning committee, which will have the final say on the proposal.

The scheme for a boatshed, outboard engine store and associated works by the Weir Quay Community Watersports Hub Club has been the subject of three public meetings and 500 people have signed a petition against the development.

Opponents fear that the timber buildings, designed to look like agricultural buildings, will lead to the urbanisation of this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty within a World Heritage Site. But supporters say if the proposal does not go ahead, it could spell the end of the Weir Quay Sailing Club and the Tamar and Tavy Gig Club.

The hub club was formed by members of the two watersports clubs after the lease on the sailing club's facilities expired two years ago.

Parish councillors heard that there were eleven potential sites for the watersports club, but all the other sites had been problematical.

The proposal was supported by Devon County Highways who felt traffic to Weir Quay would be reduced because there would be fewer boat trailers going to and from the site — but there were concerns over drainage and waste from the Environment Agency.

The conservation officer of West Devon Borough Council disliked the design and landscaping and the AONB raised issues over the car parking and access road, although it supported the scheme in principle.

Parish councillors said they would prefer to see the upper storey of the car park scrapped and the lower level expanded to cater for the 12 vehicles stated in the application. Peter Key from the hub club said the planning application was likely to be modified to take this into account.

He said the scheme would improve the parking situation at Weir Quay and give the sailing and gig clubs all the facilities they would need. 'We are not asking for an increase in facilities but a relocation 100 yards down the road from where we are now,' he said.

The council heard how the clubs catered for all ages in the community. Members were told that low membership fees made the clubs accessible to everyone and encouraged 'Swallows and Amazon' style adventures for children in today's society of playstations and ipods.

But members were reminded it was not the clubs that were under question as these were, in the main, supported by the community, but the planning application on that site.

Mary Logan from the Friends of Weir Quay said there was a lack of information in the application and concerns raised by the likes of the Environment Agency gave people little confidence in the ability of the hub club to handle such an important site.

'We feel this scheme will lead to the urbanisation of Weir Quay and we hope this is not the intention of the parish council,' she said.

'It will change Weir Quay irrevocably and for the worst.'

Parish councillor Mike Benson, who is also a borough councillor, said proposals to increase and enhance leisure facilities were looked on favourably within West Devon as they fell within the authority's local development framework.