Fish restaurant approved near processing facility

Some people gutted

Plans for an upmarket restaurant at the Appledore Fish Dock have moved a step forward after councillors agreed a planning application could be made. 

The plan, by Fish Dock tenant Tony Rutherford, is to convert the net loft and storage area of the building he leases into a seafood restaurant. 

The building is owned by the local authority and generates almost £50,000  in rent each year, of which Mr Rutherford pays £37,500. 

Mr Rutherford hopes to take on the lease for the whole of the Fish Dock and therefore take on the management responsibility. The other tenants would then become his subtenants.

On Monday [5 December], councillors on Torridge District Council’s community and resources committee broadly backed the plan to accept a planning application for the proposal, but some members had concerns. 

Non-aligned councillor for Appledore, Len Ford, whose ward includes Fish Dock, spoke against the plans and suggested restaurant customers would not be happy to eat so close to the place where the fish had been processed. 

He gave the analogy: “From my perspective, I wouldn't really want to dine at an upmarket steakhouse outside an abattoir and see my little old Aberdeen Angus going in one end and knowing I ate its brother or sister.”  

He also questioned claims about the number of jobs it may create.

“Ticks all the damn boxes,” he said. “It’s going to employ this that and the other. How the hell does anybody in this room actually know that. And do you know as a result what other businesses are going to shut?”

Independent councillor for Milton and Tamarside, Ken Hames, said he wasn’t opposed to the restaurant's plans but added: “I think there should be a full business case presented, which does actually give everybody the figures, forecasts and budgets and everything for the proposed venture.” 

Labour councillor for Bideford South, David Brenton rejected Cllr Ford’s comparison with an abattoir and said he saw no problem with “mixing the industry of landing fish with actually eating the product afterwards. 

“On that basis, then the Venice fish market should have ruined an entire restaurant business in and around that area and it certainly has not done that - quite the reverse.”

Cllr Brenton also suggested the proposals were about having a long-term vision. 

“We owe it to the next generations,” he said. “We don't know what's happening in the future. There's always going to be a market for fish The price is rising all the time. So, from the sales point of view there’s a healthy future in that respect.”

Conservative councillor for Two Rivers and Three Moors, Rosemary Lock, also reject the parallel with a slaughterhouse and backed the restaurant plans. 

“I think the abattoir and cows was a little extreme,” she said. “I think we have a different attitude towards fish. 

“Competition is healthy. This isn't going to be a fast restaurant. It's going to be open in the evenings for people to have a different experience.” 

Members of the committee approved the proposal in principle, which will now allow Mr Rutherford to submit a planning application.