Sunday 6 December 2015

Proposed new marina in Ellesmere

Whilst walking today I passed the public noticeboard beside the town hall.  On it was the agenda for the next council meeting which I read.  Item 14/04047/OUT caught my eye.  Discussion of a large mixed development including a hotel and proposed 200 berth marina to be constructed south of Canal Way.

SAMSUNG

Once back aboard Waiouru I started to do some research initially discovering this proposal has a history back to 2013.  CRT objected to the original plans on the grounds the proposed hotel complex would be three storeys high and overlook their maintenance yard beside the junction.  The original proposal has now been modified and will again be considered by the local council.  My searching took me to the Shropshire Council website where I was able to view the proposed site layout.

New Marina

Above is an extract from the plans.  The land bounded by the canal and the area shaded in purple is currently open farmland.

This is the same view but in Google Earth

New GE Marina

I suspect the development could make the area attractive.  Those interested in the commercial aspect of Ellesmere appear to strongly favour it.  However I suspect the nearby Blackwater Meadow Marina wouldn’t be pleased.  The Llangollen Canal is already the most popular canal on the network and I do wonder what effect another 200 boats will have in the canal infrastructure.  But then it’s unlikely all 200 boats in the proposed marina would go cruising together and there isn’t going to be a water shortage because it’s a ‘flowing’ canal. 

4 comments :

Peter Berry said...

And that would be as well as the other proposed marina(s) at Wrenbury. The Llangollen Canal is already far too busy without bringing more boats in, and the existing new marina at Swanley hasn't been full to capacity since being built in any case. Is there a need, or is it just commercial greed I wonder.

Tom and Jan said...

If there isn't sufficient demand then perhaps the price of marina moorings will drop?

Davidss said...

The aerial photo shows what appears to be a sewage treatment facility, on the maps it's just below the words New Hotel Complex; nice!!
I wonder which direction the prevailing wind blows, probably away from the town (which is why the treatment works is where it is), so over some or all of the new marina / hotel.

Finding the planning application was nice research.
It reminds me, re the unusual house 'The Hollies', I noticed there was a planning application in to put houses in the large garden, leaving the original house untouched. The street views on Google maps were old enough to show the garden, did you notice if the development had gone ahead?

Regards.

Tom and Jan said...

David
I was going to mention the "officers swimming club" and it's proximity to the proposed hotel but in the end decided to see if anyone else noticed the potential problem? Well done!