Firm aims to revive marina plans

Mussel fishermen say a marina would damage their business

A company hopes to revive plans for a multi-million pound marina that were first put forward 10 years ago.

Anglesey Boat Company was granted planning consent for a marina at Beaumaris but the scheme was blocked after legal action by mussel fishermen.

The fishermen said they had exclusive rights to the seabed and the marina would damage their business.

But now the firm said it intended to resubmit the proposals following a change in the law.

An amendment to the 1962 Fisheries Act would allow landowners to ask for fishery orders to be varied or revoked, to enable development to go ahead.

The scheme would bring much-needed jobs and income to the area Rupert Jones, Anglesey Boat Company

Rupert Jones, of Anglesey Boat Company, told BBC Radio Wales' Eye on Wales programme: "It's a case of waiting to see what happens with the change in the law in November, and then we can dust off the plans again and get back on with things.

"We've always insisted there's no reason why the marina and the mussel industry can't exist side-by-side, and certainly apart from the mussel industry there weren't that many objectors.

"The scheme would bring much-needed jobs and income to the area."

Mussel farmers have vowed to fight the scheme again if the application is re-submitted.

They dismiss claims that a 400-berth marina at Gallows Point would pose no harm to their business, warning that some contamination of the marine environment would be inevitable.

It could quite easily be placed the other side of Beaumaris and there would be no adverse impact at all James Wilson, Deepdock Limited

James Wilson, of Deepdock Limited, one of two firms farming the area, said: "We've always maintained that we don't have anything against marinas, we just have an issue with a marina that's located right in the middle of the area that we use to farm mussels.

"It could quite easily be placed the other side of Beaumaris and there would be no adverse impact at all."

The legal battle over the marina has cost Anglesey council and the Crown Estate an estimated £500,000 in legal costs.

In February, three Appeal Court judges ruled that the marina should not be built following legal action by the fishermen who successfully argued the marina would damage mussel beds.

Three months later, the council was told it would not be allowed to appeal against that decision.

Anglesey Boat Company wants to build the marina at Gallows Point

Council leader Clive McGregor conceded that "the only winners have been the legal profession" but said the council saw a "moral" obligation to challenge the mussel farmers' position.

"The issue we thought was important was that we as landowners ought to be able to use our land… that when we wanted the land, we could make a claim on it," said Mr McGregor.

Developers and landowners insist there are no alternative sites for the proposal, which it is claimed could create up to 150 jobs and bring around £10m to the island's economy each year.

Eye on Wales is on BBC Radio Wales on Monday at 1830 GMT.