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Gig club plan for new seafront base amid fears for future of boats
Members of a Somerset pilot gig club say the future of its historic racing boats could be at risk – unless a new base to store them is found. Clevedon Pilot Gig Racing Club has applied to North Somerset Council for permission to build a concrete shed to house two of its heritage racing boats on the Salthouse Fields car park.
One of the boats is an ex world champion racing gig while the other was carefully crafted at Bristol’s Underfall Yard. The gigs are currently stored at the town’s sailing club where they are outside and open to the elements.
Other kit and the club’s training boats are stored in the garages and lock ups of members. Clevedon Pilot Gig Club chairman Andrew Brown said: “We have a duty to look after these heritage boats for generations to come.
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“Currently we have no storage of our own and the gigs are stored at the sailing club and are out in the open which is not ideal. We cannot continue year on year allowing these important boats to deteriorate.
“The costs of continually having to continually maintain and mend the boats will have an impact on the club which could eventually see it wither and die. We have been working with North Somerset Council to find a suitable venue and it is the council which suggested the site at the Salthouse Fields.
“We have been working together to try and find a solution. Having the boats and the kit in a single location would be transformational for the club.
“One of the major elements of the sport is its tradition and the looking after these boats for future generations is our main aim.” The application to use two car parking spaces at the Salthouse Fields car park next to the children’s play area for the new shed, which would be built out of concrete blocks.
But the application has sparked an objection from Clevedon Civic Society which says the building would have a ‘detrimental’ effect on the ‘open seaside environment’ of the Salthouse Fields. A civic society spokesman said: “The siting of the building will be over dominant so close to the children’s play area, as well as reducing the number of car parking spaces available at peak times.
“We assume that the gigs would be manoeuvred on trailers into the shed from Salthouse Road and we are concerned that this will have a disruptive effect on other road users, in particular access to the Salthouse pub car park. It could also cause possible safety hazards for children in the park.
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“Since the gigs have to be towed to the launching site anyway we cannot see that siting this large building on the Salthouse Field is justified, and request that the applicants find a less visually sensitive site for the storage of their boats.”
The gig club launched in 2009 and now has around 90 members of all ages. A final decision on the planning application lies in the hands of North Somerset Council.
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