Levelling Up

Regenerating Weymouth’s Waterside Economy 

In January 2023 Dorset Council was awarded £19.5m by Government to help regenerate Weymouth’s Waterside Economy. A key element of the council’s bid included ambitious regeneration plans for land at North Quay and the Peninsula.  

Since the successful bid, we have included Weymouth Bowl off St Nicholas Street into the wider Levelling Up regeneration plan and we are in the process of acquiring land at west marina, the site of the former gas works, adding a fourth prime development site to the portfolio of development sites on offer.

Together, these four prime sites will help unlock Weymouth’s Waterfront economy and will further strengthen the future of this popular and historic seaside town.   

Our ambition is to achieve a diverse, thriving town with high quality destination streets and varied, attractive, accessible places for all making the most of Weymouth’s stunning waterfront locations. 

North Quay 

A prime development site sitting to the south side of Weymouth’s harbour, North Quay is the first of the key regeneration sites listed in our original bid to government, to have benefitted from the levelling up funding.  

Demolition of the former borough council offices completed in April 2024 and the site has been made into a temporary car park until a development partner can be found and appointed. A procurement process to find a suitable development partner is currently underway.  

Brand new services and utilities now form part of this prestigious development site, along with the repair and strengthening of the harbour walls on which it borders.   

Working together with a development partner will allow us to retain a level of control over the design and quality of any future development on this site. Any proposed plans will be shared publicly and will be subject to the statutory planning process before any decisions are made.  

Weymouth Bowl 

Planning permission to demolish the former bowling alley building on this site was achieved in April 2024. Contractors are being procured and demolition is likely to start later this year.  

Once the building has been demolished, the site will be returned to a temporary car park, until such time as a development partner is appointed to bring forward plans for redevelopment of this site. 
 
Any planning application which proposes redevelopment of this site will be subject to public consultation and agreement by elected councillors.   

The Peninsula 

The Peninsula is the site of the disused ferry terminal at the mouth of the historic working harbour, located to the southeast of the town. Currently, much of the site is currently used for car parking.  

This site presents an exciting and unique opportunity for an incredible waterside development potentially including residential properties, a hotel, destination restaurant as well as retail and commercial units. 

The working fishing harbour will remain on the southern edge of the Peninsula and presents opportunities for maritime retail and storage, together with potential improvements to the overall harbour experience.  

Due to a complex Harbour Revision Order legal process which will free up large parts of the site for development, procurement of appointing a development partner for this site is not expected to begin until 2025. 

West Marina 

Enabled by Levelling Up funding, the purchase of two additional sites to the west of the marina on the site of the former gas works is under way. More information on these sites will be available once the sale is complete.