Row over plans to convert historic dry dock

A multi-millionaire with one of the biggest collections in the world of World War Two memorabilia wants to build a new home in Devon for historic vessels.

Kevin Wheatcroft said he wanted to renovate the historic Richmond Dock in the village of Appledore into a home for boats including the S130 - the last remaining German wartime boat of its kind in the world.

Some local people have opposed the plans, claiming the Grade II listed dry dock was an important community asset that should be open to all.

Northam Town Council has voted against the project which would ultimately be decided by the planning committee of Torridge District Council.

Mr Wheatcroft is the owner of the Wheatcroft Collection which brings together about 200 items from World War Two, including tanks and other military vehicles.

The S-130 was one of the German fast attack vessels known as schnellboots which had a range of up to 700 miles (1,126km) and a crew of 35.

It was used as a torpedo boat and was one of the vessels involved in an attack in April 1944 off the south Devon coast in which 800 people died.

It was being restored in Cornwall.

Mr Wheatcroft said the new dry dock facility would also be home to a 1901 steam launch, a Royal Navy launch and one of the little ships from the Dunkirk rescue operation in May 1940.

He said: "History is about the good, the bad and the ugly so it is what it is.

"These things deserve to be preserved - I'm not preserving what they stood for, it's more about the object as a historical craft."

Mr Wheatcroft said he intended to open the site to the public on "high days and holidays".

He said he wanted to maintain a "Victorian feel" on the outside of the historic dock with a "modern structure" in the dock to keep the boats safe.

He said: "It will enhance the centre of the village as well as bringing in employment both full-time and part-time."

The site was built in 1856 and according to Historic England it was said to be the largest dry-dock in the Bristol Channel.

During World War Two wooden minesweepers and motor torpedo boats were constructed there.

The dock has been derelict for about 40 years and was listed in 1987.

A previous attempt to gain planning permission to build flats on the site was rejected in 2005.

Mr Wheatcroft bought the site in October 2020.

Kym Harris, a lifelong Appledore resident whose grandfather and other relatives worked at Richmond Dock, is fighting the plans.

She said the community wanted something done with the site but "by covering the dry dock with a shelter or a shed it's almost erasing it from this area of the village".

She said: "By covering it, it's almost like it didn't exist and those people of the village who we want to remember and our history that we want to remember, is gone."

She said the site was important to people in Appledore and it was a shame it had "been allowed to get into such an awful state".

Ms Harris said: "There are vessels from that yard all over the world that were built by local men and we should celebrate that."

The planning application for the dock will be conisdered by Torridge District Council on a date yet to be decided.

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