BOAT Owners Win Fight To Use Gourock Site
COUNCILLORS have decided that vacant land on Gourock’s riverfront can be turned into a boat storage facility, overturning a refusal verdict by officials.
Cardwell Bay Association of Small Boat Owners appealed after they were told they couldn’t use the site of the former McLean’s Boat Yard at Cove Road.
Inverclyde’s local review body today backed the boat owners and approved their application which will see 19 boat storage bays created, seven car parking spaces and a vehicle turning area. A new fence and gates will be installed on the Cove Road side.
In January, planners rejected the proposal saying noise and activity from the yard would have a “detrimental effect on the amenity” of residents living nearby.
An appeal document submitted by the boat owners stated that the facility would mainly be used in the winter when vessels are removed from the water for protection and insurance reasons.
It continued: “There is no fixed plant [equipment] proposed and only a limited use of hand tools during the winter season for some minor repairs. This would be intermittent, limited between 9am to 5pm.”
The noise would be comparable to adjacent road traffic, it was claimed. All masts would be taken down and rigging secured to avoid noise from wind.
Planners had argued: “Whilst the historical use of the site is acknowledged, as are the non-residential uses nearby in Tarbet Street, it is not considered that what may have occurred historically, both in terms of long-abandoned previous uses and those which may still be current, necessarily provides a good pointer to what may be acceptable by today’s standards.”
