Facility Upgrade Plans Submitted For Seaview Yacht Club - As Demand For Sessions Increases

A well-established Isle of Wight yacht club will carry out upgrades to allow it to ‘meet demand’ for its popular free sailing lessons for school children.

Seaview Yacht Club’s (SVYC) plans for a set of facilities upgrades at its dinghy park off Seaview’s Duver Road, including a new male and female changing room, kit store and toilet block, have been granted planning consent by County Hall.

SVYC has run the Seaview Schools Sailing Project since 2017, which is open to all Isle of Wight primary school children.

A submitted statement from SVYC’s agent, Plan Research, said:

“The project provides ten sessions of free sailing tuition to Year 5 pupils, with the aim of the children achieving an RYA qualification. As the project has grown, it has found that it needs more covered space.

“SVYC is applying for permission for two shipping containers; one is already used as a workshop and parts store for boats, but needs to be repositioned.

“The proposed shipping container would be used for male and female changing rooms and a kit store. In addition to these two shipping containers, the club needs a toilet building, so that project members no longer have to take children away from the facility for a considerable distance when those children need to use a toilet.”

Plan Research said the proposal would allow the club to reach a ‘greater number of children’ with the ‘very popular project’.

“Schools have reported that children who attend this project learn a wide range of skills including risk management, team building, confidence building, healthy exercise and listening,” the consultancy added.

Nettlestone and Seaview Parish Council objected to application 25/00709/FUL, citing concerns over a ‘lack of clarity’ on the ‘final number of containers’, waste management, ‘insufficient information’ regarding the containers’ use and the development’s visual impact.

Council planners said the containers were ‘intended to meet the needs of the charity’ and described the development’s visual impact and proposals for wastewater treatment as ‘acceptable’.

The approval came with six conditions for the purposes of legal and planning policy compliance, the interests of the area’s amenities and character, ensuring a ‘satisfactory’ appearance and suitable drainage and environmental protection.