“2019 is going to be a pivotal year for Weymouth.”

Major regeneration projects in the town have been years in the making, with proposals, consultations and even arguments – but the next few months will see this all coming to fruition, says council leader Jeff Cant.

From the seafront lights to North Quay, the Pavilion peninsula and even the inner harbourside along Commercial Road, it is hoped that big, positive changes will begin to be noticed in the town.

The timeline is partly driven by local government reorganisation, with concerns that if projects don’t get underway by the time the unitary authority takes over in April, they could be put on the backburner and never see the light of day.

The new seafront lights are scheduled to be switched on in March, putting an end to the somewhat controversial lasers, which have been in place since before the Olympic Games in 2012.

The plans for the Pavilion peninsula have been approved by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council’s planning committee and fresh plans are forging ahead for the former council offices at North Quay.

And regeneration plans are also afoot for the inner harbourside, with artisan workshops as part of the mix.

Cllr Cant said the borough council has been working closely with Dean and Reddyhoff, which leases the land, on the Commercial Road project, which is the third project – alongside the Pavilion peninsula and North Quay – that he promised to get off the ground before local government reorganisation.

“This will involve a new clubhouse for Dean and Reddyhoff and also hopefully some artisan workshops with an open air market based around it, which would enable craftspeople to display their wares. This won’t be the sort of thing that already exists at the Swannery car park, but something different, something to attract people to the town.

“The fishermen’s club would be protected, and we are also looking at the possibility of a children’s park area near the lifting bridge, and perhaps a coffee house.”

Cllr Cant stressed that there will be public discussion and consultation for these plans, which are still in the early stages, and it is hoped the funding will be sourced from Dean and Reddyhoff.

“They are very keen to get on with it,” he added. “If we can get consent then it should all happen very quickly.”

In the town centre, plans for a sculpture trail are gathering pace and Cllr Cant revealed that ‘advanced discussions’ have been taking place with Dorset County Council over getting a slice of funding from a major government highways department grant to carry out ‘significant’ repaving and resurfacing works.

The drive towards regenerating the town and transforming it into a year-round resort has been a major aim of the borough council, and Cllr Cant said there’s a lot of determination to see it through.

“I think 2019 will be a pivotal year. Once there’s major regeneration going on, people will become more interested in the town – it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. The goal has always been to transform it into a place that has all-year-round business. The depressing thing I find is that so many young people can’t get viable, decent, long-term jobs and that’s what needs to change.

“I honestly think that the work we have put in over the last four years will transform the place in the next two. Weymouth has a great future.”

'I hope I've made a difference'

CLLR Cant has been leader of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council through some major changes – but he doesn’t intend to stand in upcoming elections to represent wards on either the new Weymouth Town Council or the new unitary authority in 2019.

“I honestly think we have got more done for Weymouth in the last four years than the previous 20,” he said. “And that would not have happened if we hadn’t been so determined to keep pushing things through.

“Weymouth can be a quite warm community, there is quite a hardcore of quite narrow-minded people in the town who are against any kind of change. Sometimes it has been very frustrating.”

He added: “None of us [councillors] are acting in self-interest. I hope when I leave the council that I can look back and say I have made a difference to the town.”