New Boathouse
RNLI Press Release - 31st January 2005
The RNLI trustees have given the go ahead for a £5.5 million contract to build a new lifeboat house and slipway for Padstow. It will be erected next to the existing boathouse at Trevose Head and will be home to the next generation of lifeboat, the Tamar class. Work will begin at the site straight after the Easter break.
John Martin Construction Limited of Norfolk, who have just completed the new wave break to protect the RNLI lifeboat berth at Walton and Frinton in Essex, are now beginning to consult with local residents.
Richard Hayman, who is the Padstow site agent for the company, says;‘It’s vital that we explain fully to the public what will be happening at Trevose Head. It is planned to bring most materials in by sea to reduce road traffic, and we have already redesigned the way the piles for the foundations are going to be installed so the process is as quiet as possible. We are very pleased to be working with the RNLI on this exciting and prestigious project. The site does present us with some technical and logistical difficulties, but we are rising to the challenge and believe the finished boathouse and slipway will be something Padstow can be proud of and will give many years of service to the RNLI.’This will be the second lifeboat house and slipway to be built specifically to house and launch the new Tamar class lifeboat, the first being at Tenby in Wales. Padstow’s new lifeboat is due to arrive next year.
Howard Richings, RNLI Shoreworks Manager, says:
The design of the Padstow lifeboat house is unique. The designers and consulting engineers, Haskoning UK Limited of Haywards Heath, along with the project architects, Poynton Bradbury Wynter Cole of St Ives, have come up with a distinctive shape, one that will rest well against the imposing cliffs at Trevose Head. This is an interesting location to build in and it will set us a number of challenges, but I am confident we will finish up with a superb facility in eighteen months’ time.’‘We did look at redesigning the existing lifeboat house at Padstow but matching the technology of the 1960s with the building constraints of 2005 could have led to expensive complications. The RNLI decided it just wouldn’t have been cost effective. We need to build a lifeboat house that will remain in service for the RNLI for more than fifty years.’ The existing Padstow lifeboat house was opened in 1967 and has housed two Padstow all weather lifeboats in that time; the 48’ Oakley class James and Catherine McFarlane which is now on permanent display at Lands-End, and the present Tyne class lifeboat James Burrough. Since the boathouse became operational Padstow lifeboats have saved around 200 lives.Mike Walker, the Lifeboat Operations Manager at Padstow says the building won’t affect operations at the existing station:
The beauty of this project is that the existing facility can continue to operate while the building work continues next door. The Coxswain, Alan Tarby and the volunteer crew at Padstow are delighted that this decision has been made. The new lifeboat house and lifeboat will bring together the very latest technology to help save lives at sea in the future. We will also be able to improve the training facilities on station that are vital to our crews so we can continue our very high level of commitment and expertise.’