Torridge District Council submits revised plans for the Appledore Clean Maritime Innovation Centre (ACMIC)

Torridge District Council announced today that it has submitted revised drawings and plans for the Appledore Clean Maritime Innovation Centre for consideration under application ref: 1/1179/2023/LA.

The council wishes to share with members of the public and other stakeholders, the findings from its formal consultation and engagement.

Taking the feedback from the consultation process into account, the two main reasons for amendments to the application are as follows:

• The building height has been reduced. Several respondents left feedback relating to the height and overall scale of the development.  The revised scheme directly responds to these comments with the overall scale of the development being reduced.  In particular, the entire second floor has been removed, the extent of the first-floor area reduced, and the first floor of the Benson Building has been removed to overcome concerns around overlooking.
• In response to residents' concerns around traffic, there will now only be one point of access to the site. It has been determined that the removal of the second access onto New Quay Street (previously proposed to serve a car park) will simplify vehicle movements around the access to the site compared to the original scheme.

The updated plans are now available for the public to view on the Torridge District Council Portal.  It is intended that the revised scheme will be presented at the planning committee for final approval in the Autumn.

Councillor Ken James, Leader of Torridge District Council, said:

"Whilst this a positive and considered response to public feedback, the revised plans also consider ongoing construction cost inflation.  As such, we have looked to improve the efficiency of the building, by optimising the lettable area, reducing ancillary spaces and ensuring that the completed building fully responds to current and future market requirements.  We strongly believe that these amendments ensure that we have the right plans for the right location, which we hope will put Appledore and Torridge at the forefront of innovation and investment in clean maritime energy."

July 2024