Lymington Quay revamp plans shelved due to coronavirus outbreak

HIGH-PROFILE plans to redevelop Lymington Town Quay have been shelved due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The £700,000 project is being spearheaded by New Forest District Council but involves funding from Lymington and Pennington Town Council and Lymington Harbour Commissioners.

A decision on the final scheme had been expected to be made by NFDC’s planning committee in June, with work commencing in September for an opening in the spring of 2021.

In a statement, a spokesperson for NFDC said: “[We] have agreed to defer the Lymington quay public facilities project to ensure resources focus on the work to slow the spread of coronavirus and provide essential services to the community.

“The project will be reviewed once the restrictions relating to coronavirus are lifted to see if it would be appropriate at that time to either defer for a further period, or to recommence the project.

“All partners remain committed to ongoing discussions on this important project when the time is right.”

As reported in the A&T, the project is to replace the ageing toilet and shower block. It would cut the number of short-stay parking bays north of the block from 30 to 18 to create more space beside the sea wall.

The 24 long-stay spaces to the south would remain, and a more defined pavement laid along the car park side of Quay Road to improve safety and stop cars reversing onto the street.

Following a week-long consultation by NFDC, 81% of the public voted for a new flat-roof structure offering visitors views across the river. The alternative of a pitched-roof building failed to find much support.

The scheme initially proved controversial, with complaints last year of “behind the scenes” talks before the process was thrown open to the public after the bodies involved failed to find agreement.

There have also been calls for a more ambitious piazza-style revamp which would have removed more parking spaces.