Plans have been submitted to let a Pembrokeshire farm team up with a neighbouring boatyard to store boats in one of its sheds.
Rod Mathias has applied to Pembrokeshire County Council to turn an existing farm building at Church Farm, Church Road, Burton, into commercial boat storage.
A supporting statement says the 1980s-built building has been used “over the years variously for storing cereal crops, straw and hay, fertilizer and other farm supplies, as well as for housing farm machinery”.
“Due to changed farming practices, however, and to a reduction in the size of Church Farm over the last decade or so, the building is now underused, and for this reason alternative use is being proposed.”
Of the proposed commercial boat storage scheme, it says that “bespoke steel racking will be constructed within the existing building, which will allow these boats to be stacked two- or three-high, with sufficient spaces – depending on boat sizes – for perhaps 30 to 40 boats”.
It adds: “A special opportunity exists for the proposed use due to the proximity to the site of Rudders Boatyard, which has identified a customer need for covered ‘dry stack’ storage, which they are not currently able to provide.
“The plan is for the proposed dry stack facility to be wholly managed by Rudders Boatyard, and the movement, loading and unloading of boats would be carried out exclusively by boatyard employees.
“It is expected that activity at the site, once established, would be largely seasonal, with a mixture of some boats being stored only during part of the year (autumn and winter especially), but many others being longer-term, lasting a whole year and longer.”
It says the machinery used for handling the boats “will be similar to, and most likely lighter than, the machinery which is already regularly operated around the farmyard as part of everyday agricultural activity”.
The only site work would be installing a bespoke, self-supporting racking system made from galvanised steel.
Planners will consider the application later.
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