New plans floated for Marina in Bridlington

The latest plans are for a 250-berth Marina - half the size of the scheme which went to public inquiry 14 years ago.

East Riding Council and Bridlington Harbour Commissioners - who have often been at loggerheads in the past - say they are committed to working with each other. They have signed a memorandum of understanding, which while not legally binding, sets out how they will work together on a scheme based on the town’s “area action” plan (AAP), which was adopted in 2013.

As well as 250 berths for yachts, the plans could include a new main south pier and an extension to the north pier

*improved facilities for the fishing fleet, including vessel maintenance and storage facilities

*better facilties for the town’s pleasure boat operators

*space for firms maintaining offshore wind farms

*commercial development on the quayside for a potential hotel, leisure, retail and residential development

The £35m will come from a regeneration reserve, with other money coming from external sources, like the European Union.

The council has already warned it is a “large and complex project which will take some years to come to fruition” and that if it proves too expensive it will not happen.

A national contractor will be appointed to review the design and look at estimates, to make a “rigorous” business case.

It will take around two years to complete design work and get the necessary consents, before any building work could begin.

Pete Ashcroft, the council’s head of planning, who has been seconded to a new role as director of Yorkshire Harbour and Marina Project, said it would be a “transformational” change for the town, which has pockets of severe deprivation, by creating jobs and bringing in “additional and higher spending patrons to the area.” He said: “We hope that the Harbour Commissioners will operate it and so the council is essentially investing in the transformational effect it will have in the community. It is not investing because it wants to take over the operation of the harbour.”

In a statement the commissioners’ chairman Chris Wright said they were committed to working with the council “and look forward to reaching an agreement and finalising development plans for a scheme which will enhance and regenerate the area.”

Plans for a Marina were first floated back in 1968 by businessman Denis Elsom. In more recent years lengthy battles between the council and commissioners have cost both sides huge amounts in legal fees. An inquiry which began in 2001 ended up costing the council £750,000. The Inspector rejected the 500-berth plan as “too big, too damaging...and too vague” about its completion date. The inquiry cost the commissioners more than £700,000, while the AAP for a 320-berth Marina - they had objected to moves to acquire their land at the west end of the harbour for retail and leisure development - cost them another £200,000.