Weymouth and Portland Borough Council (WPBC) has approved revised plans for the £2m redevelopment of the seafront promenade at Weymouth.

Plans include the restoration of the historic Victorian shelters, new street lighting and licences for some of Weymouth’s beach concession will put out to tender.

WPBC’s contribution to the scheme is estimated at £948,000. This includes the remaining £160,000 from the council’s seafront regeneration budget, around £500,000 from the sale of two seafront buildings, £200,000 from capital budget and £88,000 from the Townscape Heritage Initiative. Dorset County Council will commit £400,000 for new street lighting, highways and transport, Arts Council England will provide £400,000 and English Heritage will contribute £300,000 for heritage improvements.

The seaside town of Redcar, in Teesside, is to see a £30m revamp of the area, including an 80ft high vertical pier with a 360 degree viewing platform. Plans also involve the strengthening the town’s sea defences and a promenade with performance space, seating areas and water cascades. It is said that the scheme will help to create 150 jobs.

Plans for the regeneration of Colywn Bay have been put on public display. The regeneration is designed to enhance community facilities and increase tourism.  The ‘Delivering Bay Life’ document outlines 3 key development priorities, including the creation of a new centre of excellence for sport, leisure and culture at Parc Eirias. Existing council offices could be transformed into a new leisure hotel and the project also includes improvements to coastal defences and the regeneration of the town’s waterfront area to offer better community facilities and water sports provision.  The Welsh Assembly Government has committed £20m towards the redevelopment of communities along the North Wales Coast.

North Somerset Council has approved plans for two new attractions in Weston-super-Mare, which will contribute to the transformation of the seafront. Plans for the redevelopment of the 104 year old Grand Pier, which was severely damaged by fire last year, and a new 40m observation wheel were given the green light.

A new three-storey pavilion will be built on the seaward end of the Grand Pier, with a family entertainment centre that will accommodate function, concerts and other events.

The project also includes a 91m high observation tower with moveable viewing deck, indoor fairground rides, shops, restaurants and a central shelter along the length of the pier.
The observation wheel will be situated on the beach lawns and will feature 30 observation pods, capable of accommodating eight people each.

English Heritage have published two interesting reports looking at English coastal resort towns - Regeneration in Historic Coastal Towns and An Asset and a Challenge; Heritage and Regeneration in Coastal Towns in England (they will download as PDF files).

Travelodge has announced plans to build 55 new hotels at seaside locations around the UK, in some of the most under-invested UK resorts to help boost seaside tourism.

They aim to open a new hotel each month until 2015, creating 1,000 new jobs. Locations include Blackpool, Weymouth, Newquay, Bournemouth and Scarborough within the next year.

The investment in these areas will create a marked change to the fortunes of these economies. As Travelodge hotels are ‘no frills’ the customers will spend holiday cash in the local community.
The plans coincide with a new campaign to reinvigorate the British seaside. Travelodge will be joining with leading holiday companies and visitor attraction operators to offer major discounts on accommodation, travel and attractions.

The Sea Change fund is a three year programme of funding for coastal resorts. Sea Change has an available fund of £45 million and one of the objectives is for coastal resorts to use the funding to act as a catalyst for wider economic regeneration. We understand that Blackpool, Dover and Torbay have been successful in their application to the fund.

Plans have been revealed for a £20m world class sailing resort in Loch tay, Perthshire. Plans are for a marina, spa, restaurant, swimming pool and 65 holiday lodges at Croft Na Caber. If planning permission is granted is would aim to open in 2011, creating approximately 42 jobs.   Marinas have an important role to play in coastal regeneration.

Designs for the redevelopment of the 104 year old Grand Pier at Weston-super-Mare have been unveiled.  Eight weeks after the pier was destroyed by fire, six architecture firms have put forward their ideas for the future of the pier. The view is that of an up-to-date building that is an exciting leisure attraction and also reflects the tradition of a Victorian seafront.

Hayling Island waterfront a project we worked on with Terra Firma Consultancy and HGP Architects has received coverage in the Architect’s Journal.

The new artificial surf reef at Boscombe, Bournemouth is now only one step away from realisation following a positive meeting between Bournemouth Borough Council and the Marine & Fisheries Agency.  If the Council’s licence application can now be resolved, the surf project for a 120 metre man made reef will go ahead with construction company, Corillion, being nominated as the third developer.  The design is by Kerry Black and the reef would be the first of its kind in the UK.

A collaborative four year project between 6 countries has culminated in a 4,000-km (2,485-mile) coastal path called the North Sea Trail. The way marked track encourages visitors and locals to access coastal areas of Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Holland which all border the North Sea.

Aberdeenshire Council has produced a series of 38 walking maps showing the coastal path, features of interest and the coastal bus route. A new organisation called the Friends of the North Sea trail will help maintain the trail as well as its website, which explains the historical trading and cultural links between the countries involved.

A recent report ‘Valuing the National Parks of Wales’ has identified that Snowdonia, Pembrokeshire and the Brecon Beacons National Parks helped to generate £177 million each year in revenue and provide some 12,000 jobs.  To find out more please click here.

Creation of Sustainable Tourism Destinations (CREST) is an EU Interreg IIIB North Sea Programme project which runs from May 2006 and ends June 2008.  The aim of CREST is to establish “a definition for sustainable tourism destinations in the North Sea region” and develop “guidelines to address the economical, social and ecological issues for these tourism destinations.”

“With over 700 miles of coastline opportunities for water based tourism experiences, from kite surfing through to sailing and fishing are significant. To download a copy of the Watersports Tourism Strategy for Wales visit the Visit Wales website”.  Source: Visit Wales.

Scotland has the potential to become one of the premium whale watching destinations in Europe.  We understand that the income derived from whale watching is over £1.7 million per annum and additional spend is in the order of £6 million.  If you know of any other interesting examples please let me know.  To find out more visit: Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust

Plans have been submitted to the County Council to erect a stone obelisk to mark the Dorset gateway to the World Heritage Site Jurassic Coast.  The coastline which stretches from Exmouth in east Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset was awarded World Heritage Site status in 2001.  It will be interesting to discover if the planned obelisk will become a destination in its own right.