Another big change is under way: the Salcombe Town Landings at Whitestrand and Normandy are being replaced and reorganised. The aim is to increase access to Salcombe.
From April to September, Whitestrand pontoon will become the commercial pontoon – for ferries, yacht taxis, trip boats and hire boats.
The extended Normandy Pontoon will become the landing point for private boats – including new “parking” berths for boats up to 5.5m (18ft). The front of Normandy will still, as now, be for yachts – to take on water, or for visits to Salcombe’s shops or eateries.
The consultations on the 2012-17 strategic plan have finished. The last five years has been dominated by the need to catch-up after a long period of under-investment, with new pontoons and buoyage, water available on the visitors’ pontoon and so on – even showers on Whitestrand by April 2012.
But undoubtedly the greatest achievement was the resumption of dredging and the success of injection dredging, with no adverse environmental impact. New coastal protection measures would now make traditional dredging either impossible or inordinately expensive. We got in just in time.
The next five years will, therefore, be mainly consolidation during the recession. The big unknown is what will happen to boating. There is a tendency to think of Salcombe as about yawls and deep water moorings: but in fact RIBs and small power boats are the mainstay of the harbour’s income. Will that remain, or will something else come along? What lesson should we learn from the fact that there is now a total of 75 vacant moorings in Kingsbridge, Frogmore, South Pool and South Sands?
One thing is certain – that improvements will continue to be made in Kingsbridge. The plan contains a proposal for a central pontoon down the middle of the basin, thereby removing moorings from the sidewalls and the need to use (dangerous) vertical ladders. That will be both an upgrade and give slightly longer tidal access: however some people worry that it could change the look of the basin too much.
There is, however, one important change which is still uncertain. The Fish Quay in Batson Creek is in serious need of repair and redevelopment – to cater for longer lorries and provide space for more generators for refrigeration, for example. The quay is an important provider of local employment. SHDC, which owns the quay, has put in an EU bid for the necessary millions of euros. We will know this month whether it has been successful.
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