New homes to be built in multi-million pound riverside redevelopment

More than a hundred new homes are to be built in a multi-million pound redevelopment of a key riverside location in Bideford that has been redundant for 30 years.

A company called Red Earth Bideford has told Torridge planners its original scheme at Brunswick Wharf, Barnstaple Street, East-the-Water is no longer viable.

Commercial space, which may include a restaurant, has been halved to 533 square meters, and the number of apartments in three blocks increased by 13 to 101.

The overall design has been scaled back but the homes will have private communal gardens, parking for 103 vehicles and 185 bikes, a public square, 31 public car parking spaces and spaces for 40 cycles.

Public access to the quayside will be improved along the full length of the development, and public area improvements along Barnstaple Street are proposed.

Torridge District Council plans’ committee member Cllr Chris Leather (Ind, Northam) said he preferred the public car park now being at ground level and not underground, for safety reasons.

Historic England said it had “very strong concerns” about the scale of the main three accommodation blocks and the impact on historic buildings – the Grade I listed Long Bridge and Royal Hotel and a number of Grade II listed structures on both sides of the river.

But it said that the plans were an improvement on the original scheme, a view echoed by the 79 per cent of the public who took part in a consultation.

Councillors agreed that the plans were more in keeping with the wharf environment, although they raised concerns over the loss of 14 public parking spaces from the proposal and the lack of contribution from developers towards affordable housing.

They also said they would have liked the cycle trail to link with the nearby Tarka Trail.

They were told it was a tricky and costly site to develop. 

Red Earth had committed £208,000 towards Environment Agency flood defence improvements and £5,000 towards work to change the speed limit.

Bideford Town Council concluded that regeneration of an important brownfield site, the delivery of flood defences and the wider economic benefits outweighed the lack of contributions to affordable housing, the NHS and other infrastructure.

Cllr Doug Bushby (Ind, Bideford North) was concerned whether the developer would complete the project as these were “challenging times” and housebuilding is “volatile”.

He said work in Westward Ho! had stopped on a block of flats and it now looked like “an eyesore”.

At Hayle Harbour in Cornwall, a large development of residential apartments had stalled because several developers had gone into liquidation.

“This is a multi million pound development in Bideford. Anything could happen with it. Once it is started, it needs to be completed.”

Simon Friend of Red Earth said he was born and grew up in North Devon and he was “invested and personally committed to deliver this project.

“The site has been derelict for decades and is an eyesore, yet it looks out onto one of the most beautiful settings in the south west. This project will bring a new vibrancy to East-the-Water.”

He said it would open up a new riverside walk and there would be a cycle route at the front. Information would be provided telling the story of the location’s history as an important shipbuilding and commercial wharf site for 400 years.

Mr Friend said he is working with the Way of the Wharves charity and Bideford Bridge Trust, and commissioning public art with the Burton Art Gallery.