Plans have been approved for a walkway and two floating platforms to be installed on Plymouth’s waterfront to screen movies and sports matches and host events such as gigs and even yoga classes.
Sutton Harbour Group Plc (SHG), the development company which owns a large swathe of Plymouth’s waterfront, has been given planning and listed building consent to install the structures at the historic Sutton Harbour, near the Barbican – provided it makes sure they can’t float off if he area floods.
The AIM-listed company and two movable floating event pontoons on the water off Vauxhall Quay and in the corner of the harbour near The Parade, in areas not already being used as they are too shallow for mooring boats.
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In a statement to investors SHG said: “The company received planning consent for the installation of ‘event pontoons’ within Sutton Harbour.
“The moveable pontoons will be available for events on the water in Sutton Harbour for the entertainment and active participation of local residents and visitors to Plymouth.”
SHG envisages the pedestrian walkway around the harbour allowing "public access provided along the pontoon walkway throughout the year, aside from closures for essential maintenance".
Unlike the walkway proposed by a previous “Boardwalk” scheme this plan sees the pontoons floating in the harbour.
A new, un-gated, access ramp is proposed at Guys Quay, but the existing gate will be utilised at Little Vauxhall Quay. The ramp at this eastern end will be replaced with a longer one in order to improve accessibility by reducing the gradient.
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The existing pontoons will remain at the eastern end, but as they approach Guys Quay they will be realigned slightly to provide space for a new 55m-long pontoon, floating between the existing/realigned pontoon and the quay wall.
It will have 1.1m-high aluminium railings on both sides. A low gate in the existing railing will separate the two pontoons and a high gate will be installed at the end of each of the three berthing pontoons.
New steel ramps will each be 19.5m long, 1.5m wide, 1.5m high and have handrails 0.95m above the surface. The pontoon will be attached to a steel beam to allow it to rise and fall with the water level in the harbour.
At the new western entrance a ramp will be fixed to the quay edge by a hinge which will allow the angle of the ramp to change depending on the height of the floating pontoon.
The floating pontoons, attached to existing pontoons in the harbour, will be used for events and SHG has cited St Katherine Docks in London as an example.
It said he platforms could be used for exercise and yoga classes, and for viewing films, as part of summer and winter film festivals, and sporting events on a large screen.
The movable structures comprise sections of walkway pontoons about 11.5m long by 2.5m wide, which can be connected together to form different shapes.
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Two configurations of six sections attached together would be 22.92m long by 7.28m wide alongside Little Vauxhall Quay, and a second could be 11.46m by 14.56m close to the western end of the harbour attached to the westernmost berthing platform. They could even be berthed in different locations within the zone.
Plymouth City Council planners have given the scheme conditional approval provided works starts within three years and the walkway is installed before the pontoons are built.
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In a report, council officers said: “Officers conclude that - subject to conditions securing final details of materials - the proposal will not cause any substantial harm to the significance of the listed building itself, to the Barbican Conservation Area, or to the setting of surrounding heritage assets, and that any minimal harm to the quay wall itself is outweighed by the benefits it will bring in creating public access to this part of the Waterfront Walkway/Sutton Harbour Heritage Trail.
“The public access pontoon walkway shall be installed and made available for use by the public prior to first use of the events pontoons hereby approved.”
The council also noted that the Lead Local Flood Authority had raised concerns about the potential for the pontoons to “float off” or become detached from their mountings in the event of an extreme tidal event.
Such an event, which could occur if the harbour lock gate failed or was “overtopped”, could result in water levels which exceed the design level of the proposed pontoons.
The council said it expects SHG to give “serious consideration” to this risk and to take “necessary measures to mitigate risks of damage to life and property should this event occur”.