Plans to develop a disused industrial site near Lydney Harbour into a fish smokery, restaurant and visitor attraction are expected to deliver a multi-million-pound boost to the local economy.
Gloucestershire company Severn and Wye Smokery has been granted permission by Forest of Dean District Council to transform Pine End Works on Harbour Road, the site of former factories dating back to World War II, into a new state-of-the-art fish processing facility and eel farm — for both human consumption and conservation restocking — along with a restaurant and visitor centre.
The company says the new facility will help secure its long-term future whilst providing a boost to the town's economy, by becoming a tourist destination in its own right.
The plans comprise a fish processing plant; eel farm; visitor centre and restaurant, along with staff accommodation; buildings for energy and storage; water lagoons for processing; new pedestrian, cycle and vehicular accesses; a parking area; and planting and landscaping.
The redevelopment will involve the demolition of existing buildings, while the new buildings have been designed to be energy efficient, with solar PV installations on both the fish processing facility and eel farm.
Severn and Wye Smokery, which was founded in 1989, prides itself on practicing 'the old-fashioned art of smokery' to supply high quality fish and meat to leading chefs and food halls around the world.
It currently operates a fish farm and popular seafood restaurant and shops just off the A48 at Chaxhill, with further premises in Wiltshire and Lincolnshire.
The company, which employs more than 240 people, says its current spread is inefficient and that the new development, which will see the closure of its premises in Grimsby, Salisbury and Walmore Hill, will make the business more resilient.
It also hopes to diversify into preparing smoked meats and cheeses, which it says would need separate premises, potentially at its current site in Chaxhill.
The scheme's approval this October 2024 comes with Lydney Harbour itself having been developed for tourism in recent years, through the Forest of Dean District Council-led £2.1 million Destination Lydney Harbour project which has seen the addition of a new cafe, art trail and visitor centre to the site.
