Weymouth’s plans for a wide ranging regeneration of its 2012 Olympic site have been dealt a blow after a vehicle set up to deliver a £135m pavilion and ferry project was wound down yesterday.
The Irish developer, Howard Holdings is to have its development vehicle, Howard Holdings Weymouth, dismantled after Weymouth and Portland council won a winding down order at Bristol’s high court.
It said that Howard Holdings had failed to fulfil contractual obligations and owed £23,000, and that a court order was the most efficient way of ending the agreement.
Now, the future of Howard Holding’s 10-acre project – which included a ferry facility and a 209 berth marina, a 140 bedroom four star hotel, 345 apartments, retail, a theatre, a heritage centre, and a public square – is uncertain. The site is located near to were the sailing events for the 2012 Olympics will be held.
Weymouth and Portland Council said: ‘The council regrets that it has had to pursue Howard Holdings Weymouth through the courts, but our first duty must be to protect the assets and the residents of Weymouth and Portland. The decision of the court takes us a step closer to clarifying the future for the site.’
Jeff Sparrow, investment director at Howard Holdings, would not comment on the reasons for the breakdown of the relationship with the council.
However, despite the development being described as ‘a focal point for the sailing events for the London 2012 Olympics’ on the Howard Holdings website, Sparrow said the Olympics would not be affected.
He told Property Week: ‘It is very regrettable and we are most disappointed. However, it is a misconception that the Olympics will be impacted. The facilities for the 2012 Olympics are entirely separate from the site that we were building which was an associated venue. There are lots of developments all over the country that are not happening any more because of the credit crunch – and this is no different.’
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