Fresh plans to regenerate a boatyard on the edge of Teignmouth are being unveiled today (Thursday August 15) two years after Teignbridge planners rejected proposals to develop the site.

The design team at MJS Planning and Design and the developer, Teign Maritime Properties Ltd, are keen to share their new scheme for Riverside Boatyard with the local community. They are displaying the plans at Bitton House today.

‘The revised proposals come very much from a community perspective. We are talking to local charities and community groups and we are keen to ensure they are forefront in our scheme moving forward,’ explained Matt Slader from MJS Planning and Design Ltd.

The new application includes community spaces, industrial and commercial work units, offices, nine houses, 15 beach huts and improvement work to the existing boat yard. A footpath will link the boatyard to Teignmouth via Polly Steps.

In a nod to the site’s industrial heritage, the plans draw inspiration from the gasworks that once occupied the land and the designs follow a similar footprint with three fewer houses and six fewer beach huts than the earlier proposals.

Development plans for the Riverside Boatyard in Teignmouth
The new plans for the Riverside Boatyard in Teignmouth follow the footprint of the former gasworks. (MJS Planning and Design)

The designers have worked closely with a heritage consultant and landscape architect and the scheme has been run past a design review panel. ‘We feel that this proposal is an improvement on the previous scheme and offers a strong chance of approval,’ said Matt Slader.

Teign Maritime Properties Ltd submitted plans to develop the boatyard in July 2020. However, after two years of discussions and tweaks, Teignbridge District Council planning officers rejected the proposals in October 2022. Planners considered that the development was too big and raised concerns about access and traffic congestion and the impact on River Teign mussels and oyster beds.

Teignmouth Town Council remained supportive and wrote to Pete Stenner of Teign Maritime Properties Ltd in December 2022 welcoming his plan to regenerate the boatyard and asking him to continue with the project. Teignmouth councillors said they were ‘disappointed’ by the Teignbridge planning refusal, which was seen as ‘a decision made by district councillors who do not have an interest in our town’.

Aeriel view of Riverside Boatyard and the River Teign, Teignmouth
Aeriel view of the Riverside boatyard in Teignmouth (Matt Slader)

The new planning application for Riverside is expected to be submitted to Teignbridge in September.