A NEW, £200,000 marina with its own online app is coming to Christchurch and will be open in April.

Will Eveleigh, owner of Bailey Bridge Marina Ltd, came up with the idea for a marina at the former MOD site.

What will the marina have?

It will have dry berth storage, on-water moorings and a launch and recovery service controlled through an app.

Mr Eveleigh, 44, said: “The site has been derelict for 30 years and I have taken it from the landowner.

“We are going to be doing dry berthing, we have a JCB, enough room for 45 to 50 boats of eight metres in length.

“For the dry berthing, it is all done on an app, all the clients will have an online app.”

How does the app work?

Mr Eveleigh said the clients will book a time to have their boat put in the water, and the JCB will then get the vessel down ready for the owner.

When the owner is done, they use the app again to send a message to the JCB operator to take the boat out the water.

When will it open?

“We want to be a client community,” he continued.

“We want it to be not just a community who get their boats but who come down for a morning, have a coffee, speak to other boat owners.

“We are starting in April, the groundwork team has been in and put in the pipe work, we have all the latest CCTV, alarm system to keep the boats safe, all the boats will be stored in a fenced area.”

How was the idea born?

The site was once mooted for a new supermarket, and Mr Eveleigh said he first thought of the idea for a marina in January last year.

“It is a completely derelict site, we had to clear all the bushes just so we could walk on it,” he added.

“Planning went in in March and we heard back in November.

“There is such a demand in Christchurch, there was a 50-boat waiting list for pontoons last summer.

“Already we have 20 clients booked in. We really want it to be somewhere to meet friends and socialise, not just to come down, use a boat and go home.”

How much will it cost to store a boat in the marina?

To store a boat at the marina it will cost £450 per metre of boat per year.

Customers will be able to use their boats even when the marina is closed, providing they ask the JCB operator to put it in the water before close of play.

And Mr Eveleigh said he’d be employing four people to begin with, and will employ more as the business grows.