Published: December 12, 2008
Ferry operator 'could launch Burnham-On-Sea service by 2011'

Multi-million pound plans to launch a ferry service between Burnham-On-Sea and South Wales are still on track, the entrepreneur behind the plans said this week.

Burnham-On-Sea.com was first to report in October how entrepreneur Chris Marrow is setting up a £5million venture called Severn Sea Ferries which will operate ferry services around the Bristol Channel, between Somerset and Wales.

Burnham councillor Neville Jones attended a meeting in Bristol this week where Mr Marrow updated local councillors from across the South West on his ambitious plans.

"Both sides of the channel were represented, including Sedgemoor, Swansea, Cardiff and North Devon," Cllr Jones told Burnham-On-Sea.com.

"Mr Marrow is still very enthusiastic about the whole idea despite the economic climate," added Cllr Jones.

"While Burnham is not first in the pecking order to be the landing location on this side of the Bristol channel - Minehead and Ilfracombe are high on the list - he said we could still have a ferry service in Burnham by 2011."

Mr Marrow, pictured above with Cllr Jones, told Burnham-On-Sea.com he is still "strongly considering" operating a ferry between Burnham-On-Sea and Cardiff.

The plans include buying two 40-metre Fast Cat ferries, similar to the one pictured above, from an operator on the Isle of Wight. Each ferry would hold up to 350 people and have a top speed of around 34 knots. The venture has been in the planning for more than three years and has the benefit of "solid financial backers."

Mr Marrow would like to see Burnham's crumbling jetty "returned to its former glory" to enable the ferries to moor alongside it and pick up passengers. The comments come after a bid to get Burnham's jetty listed as a 'structure of special historic interest' in order to secure hundreds of thousands of pounds towards much-needed repairs was turned down earlier this year by English Nature. It claimed the jetty was "not of sufficient special architectural or historic interest to merit listing."