Lynn marina a step closer

Ambitious plans to create marina spaces for nearly 350 leisure boats in a run-down area of King's Lynn are set to be a step closer to reality next week.

Ambitious plans to create marina spaces for nearly 350 leisure boats in a run-down area of King's Lynn are set to be a step closer to reality next week.

West Norfolk Council hopes to turn the partially derelict Boal Quay into a tourist attraction for the town, regenerating the area and 'enhancing the Wash as a visitor destination for sea-going leisure craft'.

Although a master plan for the scheme is not quite finished, a report due before the council's cabinet outlines plans for a 250-berth marina and a second 90-berth marina.

There would also be associated development, including boatyard infrastructure.

It is hoped to also have a connection to an inland waterway, but this still remains a long term aspiration for the council and is not part of the master plan, according to a report to be discussed by the council on April 17.

Councillors will be asked to endorse the plans and either initiate put the scheme out to tender to developers or negotiate a contract with a developer through a development licence.

A sum of £1.7m has been set aside for the scheme up to 2011, but more funding for the project would have to come from other sources such as the East of England Development Agency.

There has already been considerable interest from developers but the council admits completing the scheme would require major investment from a developer.

The area is seen as being under-used but is in a prime location close to the River great Ouse and the historic centre of Lynn.

Marina developments at Fosdyke and Wisbech will complement the marina at King's Lynn, the report said.

A final master plan and economic impact analysis is being worked on.