Development Strategy - North Devon District Council

currently seen in the summer months to a minimum. This could
require the closure of the Cove as a permanent through route for
traffic, which would affect the Traffic and Parking Management
Strategy locally. It therefore needs to be considered within the
context of the wider issue of the movement of people and vehicles
around the Town.
4.5.14 Smaller projects in this area of the Harbour include the provision of
more stowage space for resident and visitor dinghies, as very little
security can currently be offered to boat owners. The building of
marinas in other harbours, and the increasing sophistication of the
marine leisure industry, has resulted in a new generation of sailors
who demand full access to electricity, water and minor repair facilities
when alongside. Although rudimentary facilities currently exist at
Ilfracombe they are very much in need of upgrade.
The Inner Harbour and Old Quay Head
4.5.15 There is little that can be done to improve the inner area of the
harbour unless it were to become part of a marina facility in a much
wider development. The widening of Quay Road, by the construction
of a new quay face, is seen as an excellent option to provide pontoon
berths along the quay with electricity and water supplies for visiting
boats. The extended Quay would also provide the potential to bring a
‘café culture’ to the harbour without the significant economic and
operational difficulties associated with full pedestrianisation. It is
considered that reducing the conflict between pedestrians and traffic
by installing traffic control measures on Quay Road would greatly
improve the tourist experience. This must be done without losing car
parking spaces or inhibiting vehicular access to the Pier Car Park.
4.5.16 Old Quay Head is Grade II* listed and presents NDC with a heavy
financial burden for its ongoing maintenance. The structure continues
to be unstable and a solution for its long term protection, as a key
heritage asset for the Town, needs to be implemented within the life
of this plan. The options available for this include:
• the building of protecting breakwaters to seaward to reduce
damaging wave action
• the building of a marina with lock/sill gate to equalise the
water pressure in and on the quay imposed by tidal action
• the encasing of the structure within a new build quay thus
preserving it ‘inside’ a new structure
4.5.17 Pontoons, berths and walkways could be established on the outer face
of the Quay to provide further alongside berths and a safe area for
visiting boat dinghy storage.
4.5.18 The seabed in the Inner Harbour is in equilibrium and apart from
small seasonal differences rarely changes. The bed rock in the area
associated with boat moorings is between 1m and 2m below the level
of the sand and it is possible, if a marina were to be built, that this
could be dredged to provide moorings for deeper draft vessels.
Dredging and the Maintenance Dredging, required for a non marina
protected inner harbour, would be prohibitively expensive.
4.6 Consultation
4.6.1 In order to produce this Development Strategy it was imperative that
it had credibility and Stakeholder support. In order to achieve this the
Board decided to phase consultation in order to engage with the key
stakeholders from the outset.
4.6.2 The first consultation was to gauge reaction to and achieve agreement
of the Board’s Strategic Aim and Objectives. The responses to this
consultation were all positive and in full agreement with the Aim and
Objectives of the Board.
4.6.3 The second consultation focussed on the options for Development and
appraisal to be found in Chapter 4 of this document. Once again all
responses were in full agreement with direction the Board were
following.
IHB’s Development Strategy Version 1 dated 10th April 2012
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