Maldon Yacht Club could have a £500,000 purpose-built headquarters on the River Blackwater by 2001.

The 63-acre site is sited on the Heybridge side of the river.

It would include flooded gravel pits to be used as a centre for disabled sailing, a clubhouse with boat parking and estuary views, plus facilities for sailboarding, windsurfing, dinghy and cruiser sailing.

The plans, now at the outline stage, are being made with the support of landowners, Thomas Bates and Son of Romford.

Club vice commodore, David Sewell, announced the plans this week as the club prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

The new centre, built around the sea wall, would be the third home for the club. In the early years members met at the Hythe, moving to their present home at the end of the Promenade Park in the 1960s.

"This is a new club for a new millennium," Mr Sewell said. "We aim to make Maldon a premier site for sailing for the disabled and for the training of young sailors on the protected and safe waters of the gravel pits.

"We are very excited, this plan offers a tremendous future, not just for the club but for the town. It will really put Maldon on the sailing map and will be an amenity for the whole East coast.

"We will be providing facilities that are sorely needed by a town whose heritage has always been the water."

Mr Sewell said plans are being made to apply for lottery funding and grant aid for the scheme.

Already a subscription levy has raised £40,000 for the 2001 Fund.

Roger Goodland, managing director of Thomas Bates and Son, said his company is giving full backing to the scheme, offering the site, of which 56 acres is water, on a 99 -year lease for a peppercorn rent. The company's own plans for the adjoining area include an hotel.

"These are very early days, but we welcome these plans and are excited by the project. This is a perfect site for sailing, especially for disabled sailors.

"This site is earmarked on the local plan for recreational use. We believe this is good use of the land and should benefit the district in general," he said.

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