What's Planned
Plans for the revival of Baltic Wharf – currently a 13-acre brownfield site on the River Dart in Totnes – have now been submitted to South Hams District Council for outline planning permission. The application also makes available for public recreation some 12 acres of greenfield land beside the brownfield area.
The masterplan is based on proposals which found strong support when viewed by hundreds of local people at consultation events in Totnes in May 2008.
The final plans take into account feedback from the consultation and the worsening economic climate. However, like the original scheme, they have managed to maintain over 400 jobs and up to 90 affordable homes. Given we are in the worst recession in six decades, this is no mean feat!
The following documents accompany the planning application:
- Public consultation statement
- Planning statement
- Environmental impact summary
- Summary of planning application
Baltic Wharf is seeking outline planning permission to:
- Provide a new Marine and Business Centre for an expanded marine
industry and commercial offices, with space for up to 250 jobs. - Maintain an equivalent amount of boat capacity as at present,
including undercover storage, a public slipway, space for smaller boats and increasing pontoon moorings on the quayside. - Build a Retirement Village with up to 100 assisted-living
units and a 60-bedroom registered nursing home offering independent living and continuous care with communal leisure facilities for residents and the public, as well as creating 120 jobs. - Provide a cafe, restaurant and small shops around a public
plaza, offering a further 50 jobs, plus a riverside walk on the site. - Provide genuinely affordable homes for local people (max 90) and sufficient open market homes (max 160) to ensure the entire scheme is financially achievable. Closer to the start of construction, an independent appraisal on behalf of both SHDC and the owners will decide the housing mix. This is to ensure the scheme maximises the numbers of affordable homes by reflecting likely improvements in the housing market between now and then.
- Use 20-25 of the new homes as live/work units to encourage people living at the Wharf to work from home.
- Explore with the Baltic Wharf Co-Housing Project using around 30 of the homes for a sustainable co-housing community, to include communal facilities, kitchen garden and an exemplar Sustainability Visitors Centre.
- Open up and enhance some 12 acres of adjacent land as green space for the public's enjoyment.
- Use renewable energy and highly insulated buildings to minimise the carbon footprint of the scheme.
- Make sustainable travel options a genuine and attractive alternative for those living or working on site.
- Ensure the scheme is well designed to blend in with the local vernacular in a contemporary way