THE manager of Upton Marina has welcomed the encouraging response of district councillors to a marina expansion and holiday village scheme.

Owners Walton Marine want to double the size of the marina basin and build 60 holiday apartments close to the marina, with 45 chalets in a landscaped park on the hillside above.

District councillors decided to defer a decision on the outline scheme after last-minute amendments were submitted before last week's planning meeting in Malvern.

Manager Steve Arber said the company had always believed they could answer all the questions and meet all the local considerations raised by their proposal.

"Our last-minute plans were responding to some of the points made by planning officers in their report to the planning committee," he said.

"We had only a few days in which to respond. We had always acknowledged that when the 1947 flood level was finally established we would comply with it, but there was some debate and uncertainty about it.

"We redrew the plans with that in mind and also to comply with the officers' recommendations about the distances to be retained between the holiday chalets and the A4104 and also between the chalets and houses at Holly Green."

Requirements

Mr Arber said it was the 16th time the plans had been withdrawn in response to local concerns and statutory requirements. The plans were also adapted as new points arose during the drawing up of a comprehensive environmental impact study.

But one of the difficulties in complying with planning concerns was the scale of development needed to make the scheme viable.

"When you are digging out a marina from scratch, it is hugely expensive and you need other types of development to fund it, so we are proposing to fund the construction of the marina with a small holiday village," added Mr Arber.