Plans are afoot to restore the derelict Fort Victoria Pier.
Once approved, the proposals would see a landing and processing facility for shellfish and fish, as well as a shop and cafe/restaurant built on the end of the pier, as well as five detached dwellings on the shore.
The Island-based applicants say the proposed development (named Westhill Beach) seeks to celebrate and promote a sustainable future for the fishing industry.
Background of the area
The planning application documents explain that the pier and adjacent land were formerly part of Fort Victoria and initially used for military logistics, before being redeveloped to move, store and load marine mines.
In the early 1960s the military use came to an end and the site became part of a small boat-building yard, which was in use until the mid-1980s, before the wider site was redeveloped into residential/tourism during the late 1990s/early 2000s.
Pier plans
As anyone who has been to the area in recent years will know, the pier is currently unused and inaccessible, but the applicants believe it provides an “unrivalled opportunity for restoration and repurposing”.
The proposed restoration will bring the pier back into public access, the applicants say, protecting a culturally important asset to the Island’s heritage, “whilst reconnecting British seaside food tourism”.
Residential dwellings
On the shore, in an area of Previously Developed Land (PDL), there are plans for the creation of five detached dwellings.
The applicants says the housing, in part, provides the commercial catalyst for the pier project. They say that each dwelling contains four first floor bedrooms and communal ground floor living spaces, and benefit from private external amenity spaces and off-street parking.
View the plans
Plans and more detail can be seen by visiting the council’s planning portal (22/00634/FUL).
The public consultation is open until 16th May 2022.
