A RIVERSIDE ‘Winter Gardens’ restaurant is proposed to help ‘resurrect’ York Marina out of the pandemic.

The family-run business has submitted plans for the stylish venue, which would create a dozen jobs and meet a need for all-year dining on the site in Naburn, as it aims to remain “one of the greatest inland marinas in the North.”

Since 2006, York Marina has been owned by Phil and Pam Bleakley, with their children Richard and Joanna involved in the business, which has more than 300 moorings, boat sales and brokerage, chandlery and waterfront cafe, boat hire and caravan site.

The application to City of York Council seeks to partly convert a workshop to a kitchen, with a single storey extension to provide a new dining/ lobby and members area and associated patio.

It said the marina has suffered over the past 20 months due to the pandemic hitting the hospitality trade. This had been offset somewhat with ventilated outdoor dining using canopies but a more permanent year-round solution was needed.

The owners said: “We do not want to detract from the river scenescape and have decided a high spec slim frame aluminium and glass ‘Winter Garden’ restaurant, would be ideal for what the business needs to take it forwards and meet the needs of both our customers and our business in these difficult times.

“This Winter Garden is of the highest specification, including thermal efficiency, would be unobtrusive with it being fully glazed and the design is superb. The river front would be landscaped with steps to a lower patio area to complete the project.”

If approved, the new Winter Garden restaurant would be situated to the rear (west) of the main building, with 130 covers.

The application says the existing kitchen is “struggling to keep up with the current demand” for dining on the patio, and service to this area is not direct from the kitchen.

A new kitchen, bar and restaurant with separate menu, would help meet this demand.

The proposals were also ‘sensibly designed’ and proportioned for the setting.

The owners continued: “As a family business, to enable us to compete with the larger destination centres and maintain our position in the market, it is essential from a business perspective that we breathe fresh life and hope into the business, and provide what our customers are asking for, we need this new development to take it forwards not only to get us back to where we were pre-pandemic, but to look forward to a brighter and sustainable future.”

The application also said: “There is a business plan in place to invest in more flexible and expandable catering and new restaurant services, and ensure the Marina continues as a successful and sustainable business.”

It concluded the plans were “an important step in resurrecting the business as we continue through the Covid-19 pandemic, safeguarding the future profitability of the business, and increasing local employment and we therefore hope as a result they should be approved.”