CONFIRMATION was given on Thursday (September 19) that Watchet Marina was under new ownership after years of complaints by boat owners over alleged ‘broken promises’ under financially-troubled Danish entrepreneur Christopher Odling-Smee.

The news, which was broken by the Free Press last week, came as Somerset Council ordered a start on dredging in the outer Watchet Harbour.

Newly-formed Western Marinas Ltd has also acquired two other marinas in Wales which were run by Mr Odling-Smee’s company Marine and Property Group Ltd (MPG), which has been in administration for the past 17 months with an estimated £16 million debts and £2 million of assets.

Western Marinas has taken over Cardiff Marina and a management contract for Aberystwyth Marina, both of which were also in administration when under MPG control.

The company was set up in April of this year by a new management team and their funders with a ‘mission to realise the potential of Cardiff, Aberystwyth, and Watchet marinas’, as well as Cardiff Marine Village and its associated dredging division.

Western Marinas said it was backed by a ‘significant amount of capital’ to ensure much-needed investment could be made across the sites.

A company statement said: “The group has a clear mission to put these marinas back to where they belong as some of the leading facilities in Wales and the South West.

“Initial priorities will include the return of fuel sales and full electrical refits as well as dredging campaigns at Watchet and Aberystwyth in conjunction with the local harbour authorities.”

Western Marinas chairman Andrew Cornish said: “I have a passion for customer service and creating environments that everybody can be proud to be involved with, be they customers, colleagues, suppliers, or just onlookers.

“I love the marine world and am a boat owner myself, all be it on the Thames right now.

“I look forward to meeting current and future customers, hearing thoughts and views, and working with the team to make Western Marinas somewhere we are all proud to be associated with.”

Somerset Council, which is the statutory harbour authority and owns the freehold to the marina, welcomed improvements proposed by Western Marinas.

Acting harbourmaster Capt Jessica Tyson said she was looking forward to working with Watchet’s new leaseholders.

Somerset executive Cllr Federica Smith-Roberts said: “I am delighted the future prosperity of Watchet Marina has finally been secured after a lengthy but meticulous process.

“We look forward to working with the team at Western Marinas to build on the progress that had been made rehabilitating the marina, taking it forward to become a source of local pride and a jewel in the crown of our West Somerset coastline.”

Watchet Marina had been leased since 2001 by the council to Tim Taylor’s Watchet Harbour Marina Ltd, but in 2021 he sub-let to Mr Odling-Smee’s MPG, which had been in the process of buying the lease in a private transaction while also negotiating with the authority for a 200-year lease.

Mr Odling-Smee refuses to speak to the Free Press.