Council to consider amendments to Datchet boat proposal

Anger over plans to moor boats on a prized area of Datchet's riverside failed to erupt into the public mayhem some had feared.

Villagers packed Datchet Village Hall last night as members of the parish council outlined plans to put three wooden jetties on the riverbank at Windsor Road, enabling as many as six boats to moor.

The idea has appalled some villagers who fear the riverbank view being blocked and hordes of visitors bringing chaos.

It led to angry protesters besieging parish councillors as they met in the hall last week.

But yesterday's official public meeting was much calmer.

Parish councillor Ian Thompson told those present that the mooring plan was part of a wider scheme to tidy up the decaying river frontage.

Former parish councillor Harry Clasper, who led the opposition, won applause when he said he supported a restoration for the riverbank but not the destruction of the view by moored boats.

But a large proportion of the 70 or so people present clearly supported the mooring plan.

Several residents said that they did not object to the two rotting jetties on the riverbank being replaced, so that boats could moor again.

But they opposed the part of the plan that included a new third jetty that would enable  larger boats to stop.

Cllr Don Lyons-Davis, the parish council's lead member for grounds, said the authority would meet again and possibly come up with an amended proposal.