A light powdering of snow on 18 January brought chaos to Bideford and the cancellation of an important Planning Committee meeting. Apparently two cars ran into each other, and into the scaffolding at the bottom of Bridge Street. Both Bridge Street and High Street were closed for a time and the former turned into a makeshift toboggan route for a while, with people scooting down on trays. 

Some of us were hoping to speak at the planning meeting about plans to demolish all the existing buildings and structures on the Middle Dock site in Appledore, where the Clean Maritime Innovation Centre is to be located. 

We have written in this column before about our overwhelming support for the Clean Maritime project. It was exciting to see that the planning proposal referenced the heritage of the site and conserving buildings as part of its high-tech ambition. Part of our obligations to the Maritime Heritage Trust as guardians of the Bideford and River Torridge Heritage Harbour, is to promote heritage that can be visited, whether ships, quays, buildings, or other types of physical infrastructure. There is so much that could be done in this regard. 

The Middle Dock site is on the Southwest Coast Path and could easily incorporate information boards on the public-facing space. Information about the Benson family, convicts to Australia ending up on Lundy, the Iron Yard and barge building, Second World War speed motor launches etc., as well as some of the innovations being taken forward in the new Centre, would demonstrate graphically how both past and future are anchored in our maritime heritage. The design and decoration could incorporate motifs alluding to Appledore’s maritime history. It would be wonderful to see a detailed history of the site published as part of the project. 

It was disappointing therefore to see that, following the cancellation of the planning meeting, proposals to demolish all the existing structures on the site have been automatically approved, with work already about to start. We would have liked to put the case against totally clearing the site and destroying all the existing built heritage. We believe it would be quite feasible to maintain some the boundary wall. A new footpath could be placed between the old wall and new building so that the Coast Path enters the old warehouse site, through an arch, and walkers move from the past to present and future.