The organisers of the Spirit of Teignmouth yacht project are to make a renewed bid to stay at their construction and visitor site at The Den, Teignmouth, writes Nigel Canham. Teignbridge Council planners ordered the project to quit the seafront location by the end of September after project mastermind, Simon Chalk, was accused of 'conning' the town. He had asked to keep the project on The Den for an additional 12 months after complaining that the record-attempting boat build had hit delays. Planners decided instead that bad management was at the heart of the problem and granted Mr Chalk just three months extra. It was feared that granting extra time could have a negative impact on plans to upgrade permanent visitor attraction at The Den. Now the Spirit team has submitted a new planning application to the council, with the aim of keeping the project going until February 28. 'That will give us enough time to get the yacht completed,' said project spokesman, Amanda Claridge. Asked to comment on media reports elsewhere that described the latest application as a 'last-ditch attempt' to avert failure she said: 'We do like to make a drama out of a crisis.'
