THE trustees of Weir Quay Community Watersports are concerned our community is being damaged by speculation, rumour and misinformation.  This is in spite of the fact that throughout the planning process we have been, and still are, prepared to share our plans with the public, to take their concerns into account.

The planning situation is still fluid and we continue to actively assess a number of practical solutions to be able to get dinghies and gigs onto the proposed site with the minimum of disruption, and welcome positive input from all parties.

All we are seeking to do is to obtain permission to develop replacement facilities for those that the sailing club and gig club are now using on a short-term temporary basis. 

The hard at Weir Quay is the only public access to the tidal Tamar in West Devon, and the replacement facility must be very close so boats may be launched and recovered efficiently. 

The application site is the only area available freehold close enough and large enough to enable storage of the three pilot gigs, some 29 privately owned dinghies, 14 club dinghies and 45 tenders, all behind the hedge and outside the high flood risk zone.  We have explored eleven potential sites before selecting this one as the only viable and available option.  The TVPA's suggested alternative site is part of the area currently in temporary use. This option was considered at a very early stage and rejected on grounds that it is too small to serve both clubs' needs.  

They further propose we should build a clubhouse on the riverside, on piles extending over the foreshore below the high water mark, with boat storage beneath.  

If it was to meet the needs of the two clubs, the boat storage area would need to extend to around 1000m2 and this site is within flood risk zone three — the floor level of any building, and boat storage, would need to be at least a metre above the level of the sea wall.  Apart from being totally unrealistic, this proposal would have a significant adverse visual impact on the landscape they seek to protect.

It was made clear in discussions with Natural England, the Environment Agency, the AONB and the Tamar Estuaries Consultative forum that all of these bodies had very strong objections to any proposed development, floating, solid or piled, below the high water mark. 

Finally, the petition currently being circulated gives absolutely no details of the proposal, it just expresses an objection 'to the development at Weir Quay' — this hardly allows any of the signatories to claim to have made a properly informed decision!

For a real measure of how the proposal is viewed locally, readers are urged to consider the recent vote of the parish council to support the project, and our current funding base — club members have donated over £25,000 and we have received further donations from community groups along with substantial grants from the Belinda O'Flynn Trust, Devon County Council, Tamar Valley AONB, West Devon Borough Council and Devon Community Foundation.  

Mike Street

Secretary

Weir Quay Community Watersports