Decision on huge fish factory, eel farm, restaurant and visitor centre at Gloucestershire docks pushed back

A decision on major plans for a fish factory, eel farm, restaurant and visitor centre at Lydney Docks has been pushed back after a crunch meeting to debate the scheme was cancelled.

Severn and Wye Smokery Ltd’s wants permission from Forest of Dean District Council to redevelop the Pine End Works site to the north of Harbour Road.

Their scheme which includes a two-floor 20,600m² fish processing building, a 8,000m² eel farm along with a restaurant, visitor centre, energy centre and staff accommodation was due to be debated by the development management committee on August 13.

However, the single agenda item was pulled and the meeting cancelled due to the submission of late material.

According to the council, they didn’t have time to consider a late entry in time for it to be presented at the meeting.

Among the late material received the day before is a solicitor’s letter sent on behalf of Alison Mossop, who lives at Naas House, which raises serious concerns over omissions and irregularities in the advice given to the committee.

There was also an email from Councillor Chris McFarling (G, St Briavels) sent this morning questioning comments from the Environment Agency (EA) and raising concerns over impacts on the eel population of the Severn Estuary.

He said: “As a zoologist and lifelong wildlife conservationist I cannot let the late material pass without response.

“Until such time as the eels are able to reproduce naturally in captivity the eels that are needed to sustain the farmed outputs must be harvested from the wild population.

“The eel has proved resistant to reproducing naturally in captivity and artificial fertilisation is possible but expensive, and how that interferes with their migration memory is still untested.

“European eel fisheries experts suggest that the decline in eel populations in the last 40 years is the result of multiple factors and that fishing is probably not the main factor.

“Polluting waterways with contaminants like pesticides, medicines and plasticisers has a much greater effect on their decline, including on eels’ reproductive capacity as do the many dams, weirs and in-stream blockages that prevent their upstream migration, and the loss of wetlands and the ultimate destruction of their habitats.

“Since the population has declined precipitously in the last 40 years, down to 10 per cent of its 1980s figure, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed the European eel as critically endangered. The late material states that ‘there would be no conceivable impact on the eel population in the Severn Estuary resulting from the removal of eels because the whole fishery only exploits stock which is deemed surplus by the EA’.

“How can a species listed as critically endangered, having lost 90 per cent of its population have surplus stock to be exploited?”

He goes on to say that he will send his email to Green councillor colleagues on the development management committee for their reference.

Officers had recommended approving the scheme which includes three three-bed homes, eight one bed flats, four two bed apartments and 18 shared units for season staff.

The plans also include pedestrian, cycle and vehicle access onto Harbour Road along with a network of internal routes.

And the scheme includes parking for staff, visitors and heavy goods vehicles and two water treatment lagoons.

The site itself has been cleared of most of the Pine End Works buildings.

Pine End Works developed at the start of World War II as a shadow factory to produce plywood and veneer for use in aircraft and marine technologies and was under the management of the Ministry of Aircraft Production.

The shadow factory programme formed an integral part of the re-armament strategy of the government.

The site was part of wider plans to establish three industrial sites in the Forest of Dean with the other two being in Cinderford and Coleford.

The Lydney site was served by the docks and harbour which could both dispatch items and take delivery of materials and in turn, serve the other two sites.

Production under the programme ceased at the end of September 1945. Manufacturing continued at the site under the Pine End Works name until 1970s.

The site was last occupied by Lydney Products who specialised in saw milling, planing, and impregnation of wood but this ceased in the early 2000s.

Previously approved plans for the site by Severn and Wye Smokery were quashed in 2021 and the scheme was remitted for councillors to consider the scheme afresh.

Severn and Wye Smokery, which was established in 1989, has been very successful currently has a turnover of more than £50m a year. It employs 240 staff across premises in Chaxhill, Walmore Hill, Salisbury and Grimsby. But they say this is highly inefficient and imposes extra costs.

And in order to diversify the business and make it more resilient, their plan is to set up an eel farm which will rear eels for both human consumption and conservation restocking and prepare more smoked meats and cheeses which will need separate premises and could remain at Chaxhill.

The firm has decided to close its Close Grimsby, Salisbury and Walmore Hill sites and relocate the fish processing and headquarters function from Chaxhill to Lydney.

And they want to build a purpose designed eel farm building while retaining the Chaxhill site for the barn, restaurant, shop and the smokery buildings for non-fish products.

They say this will result in millions of pounds of investment in Lydney and will secure the long term future of the Severn and Wye Smokery in the district as well as around 240 jobs.

Some five people have written in support of the plans while 13 objections have been lodged against the scheme.

Those supporting the proposals say it is a fantastic idea for the derelict land and will turn Lydney into a “destination town”.

However, those objecting say roads in the area need resurfacing while the entry to the sit needs to be made more attractive.

They also said the homes would “result in densely populated area on the outskirts of a small town.

However well designed, decision to locate here is poor planning”.

Planning officers said their recommendation for approval was very finely balanced given the proposals’ impact on the listed Naas House and its associated barn.

“It is for members to weigh these material considerations when considering the balance and to reach a conclusion as to if the scheme is acceptable or not,” they said.

“It is the opinion of officers that the merits of the scheme outweigh the concerns and as such a positive recommendation can be made.”