Hythe Marine Park to offer marine units for high growth companies
Future Plans
In March 2009 New Forest District Council issued a certificate of lawful use for Hythe Marine Park. The certificate allows the building, repair and maintenance of ships, boats and other marine craft to be undertaken across the site.
It's over two years since the former US Army base at RAF Hythe closed in September 2006 with the loss of some 200 jobs. Since then, the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) has been working with local partners in order to ensure the successful future of the site and has secured a number of occupations by marine companies.
In early October 2007, SEEDA completed the purchase of the site from the Ministry of Defence. As one of the last available waterside employment locations in the Solent area, Hythe is an important site for the marine industry, and SEEDA's primary aim is to ensure its long-term use for marine employment.
In March 2009 New Forest District Council issued a certificate of lawful use for Hythe Marine Park. The certificate allows the building, repair and maintenance of ships, boats and other marine craft to be undertaken across the site.
The aim of this consultation is to keep the local community, tenants and operators informed of SEEDA's plans for the site and to involve them in the design process. At this stage SEEDA are considering a number of options and therefore not all of the information in the exhibition will form part of the planning applications.
If you would like to comment on the proposals please complete a comments form or alternatively send your responses to Adams Hendry Consulting Ltd, 7 St Peter Street, Winchester, SO23 8BW.
The final design and layout of the marine production buildings (A & B) will be determined following consultation with existing and prospective tenants, local residents and other stakeholders. Options 1 and 2 are included for consultation at this stage.
The Proposals
The marine park will provide some 27,000m2 of property set in approximately 4.9 hectares (12 acres) of land. While it was a US Army base, it was used for the servicing and repair of US military vessels and vehicles with a workforce skilled in services such as electronics, shot blasting, marine engineering, fabrication, welding, pipefitting and rigging. The site is dominated by two large hangars, both with waterfront access, with one benefiting from a unique ship lifting facility, which is able to lift 950 tonnes. There are also workshops, paint shops and office accommodation as well as working berths, a pier, pontoons and barge platforms.
The new buildings will comprise approximately 5000m2 of floor space. The marine production buildings (Buildings A & B) are designed to provide flexible space for high growth marine companies, and are sited to provide direct access to the water, whilst providing a buffer to the adjoining residential development.
A series of marine start-up units are proposed to allow small companies to benefit from the marine park location (Building C). In addition, a reception building will provide administration, office and working space (Building D).
The refit-facility offices that sit alongside the existing main hanger (Unit 4) will allow dedicated teams to hire space on a project-duration basis, and also offer storage and welfare facilities (Buildings E & F).
The existing light slipway will be improved to enable a wider variety of vessels to access the water.
Traffic
The main access to the site will remain via the recently improved junction onto Shore Road at the southern end of the site. There will be a small amount of additional traffic generated by the site improvements but this is expected to have only a very small or negligible effect on the local road network. Parking within the site will be increased to ensure that the site parking demand does not overspill into adjacent areas.
Design Principles
The proposed new buildings will be designed to ensure that impacts on the surrounding environment are minimised. In particular, the following features, will be considered:
* Main hanger doors will be located on the building façade facing away from the nearest residential properties
* The building will be constructed from modern materials and will be insulated throughout.
It should be noted that the building would act as a barrier to any activity occurring within the hard standing area to the front of the proposed building.
Flood risk
Consultation with the Environment Agency is on going and the final scheme will be designed to ensure that it will not increase flood risk either on the site or the surrounding area. A Flood Risk Assessment will be submitted with the planning applications.
Ecology
SEEDA is working with Natural England to ensure that the adjoining ecological designations will not be adversely affected by the proposals. Surveys have been undertaken for the site and the surrounding areas and a Biodiversity Statement will accompany the planning application.
