£48m plans for riverfront set to be unveiled
PLANS for a £48million development on a run-down riverfront site in Totnes are to be unveiled this month.
Developers behind the Baltic Wharf mixed-use scheme are seeking public opinion on what they hope will be the final design before it goes before council for planning approval.
The unveiling follows months of work by the Baltic Wharf design team to find out how local people want the site to look and feel.
For the hundreds of people who took part in the consultation, it will be their first chance to see their ideas translated into real designs.
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The drawings relate to part of the site closest to the town. They will reveal the detailed layout for up to 95 homes including a co-housing scheme. A strategy for the entire 26-acre site will also be on show.
Architects shaped the designs using feedback from a wide variety of interested parties including community groups, local residents, hard-to-reach groups and two public drop-in events.
If the proposals get the public thumbs up, Baltic Wharf's owners expect to put in a detailed planning application in early summer.
However, owners TQ9 Partnership and developers Bloor Homes have stressed there will still be time following the workshop to make improvements if needed.
TQ9 managing partner Steve Mittler said: "So far as we can tell, no other development in the area has had this level of public involvement in its design. Although it's crunch time for us, we're genuinely excited to be at the stage where we can show townspeople how their ideas have been used to shape the designs.
"We really hope people like the plans but if there are things we can do to make them better this is the time for people to tell us."
Subject to approval, construction could begin on phase one by early 2013.
Tony Whitty, who sits on the community steering group that has helped to oversee the process, said: "Baltic Wharf has shown it is possible for private developments to welcome local involvement and listen to local ideas.
"These events have allowed the community to influence both the design and the way the development will be constructed."
The 26-acre site has outline permission for employment land to create more than 300 jobs, up to 190 homes, a modernised boatyard, retirement village and riverside plaza and around 12 acres of public open space. The site is being developed in phases, with the entire project expected to be complete by 2016/17.
The detailed designs for phase one will be unveiled at a public drop-in event on May 18 and 19 at the Totnes United Free Church.
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