Plans for Port Royal: “Let’s hope the new year brings forward a solution to the eastern town.”

The idea of having a ferry along the Jurassic coast has been 'floated' for a long time - with a formal application for funding going out almost two years ago:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: waterborne transport and a jetty

Jurassic ferry dream too costly

06:10 12 December 2014

Stephen Sumner

A Stuart Line cruise boat prepares to dock at the beach in Sidmouth. Photo by Simon Horn.

Spiralling costs and a lack of investors to foot the bill have forced tourism bosses to pull the plug on their bid for a Jurassic Coast ferry – despite ‘amazing enthusiasm’ from the public.

Engineers had quoted £1million for a long, low-pitched concrete jetty structure reaching far out into the sea from the eastern end of Sidmouth as part of the scheme.

It would have formed part of a waterborne link between Lyme Regis and Exmouth – but the funds do not exist in the public coffers and there was little incentive for private investors.

Simon Pollentine, Sidmouth Town Council’s tourism chief, said: “It was always going to be a gamble. The figures were so huge – there weren’t sources for funding in the public sector or anywhere else. Enthusiasm knows no bounds, but money is a little slower coming. It’s a 100 per cent infrastructure project with no immediate capital coming back.”

He joined meetings with representatives from the Jurassic Coast, Devon and Dorset’s county councils and Seaton Town Council – which would also have needed a £1million jetty to join the route. “The one thing we got was a lot of data, some of which could be used in the future,” added Councillor Pollentine.

“Market research showed an amazing enthusiasm for boats and ferries. There’s a huge appetite for it – and I wonder if there’s potential for a low-tech solution. There are so many hurdles to be jumped over before it gets built on the seafront in a Regency town on a World Heritage Site.”

“Let’s hope the new year brings forward a solution to the eastern town.”

Jurassic ferry dream too costly - News - Sidmouth Herald

There have been other ideas for what to do with the Eastern Town:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: marina
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: mixed development
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: alternative ideas
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: Arboretum
Futures Forum: Tidal Reef at Port Royal
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: Drill Hall regeneration proposal - Sidmouth Drill Hall Hub
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