The Ministry of Defence has been ordered by a Bristol court to sell the 99-year lease on Fort Bovisand to a property developer from Plymouth and the former BBC Director General Greg Dyke.

Fort Bovisand had long been famous as a diving centre, but in more recent years, became famous for the high rate of business failures and liquidations occuring at the delapidated Napoleonic fort, perched high beyond the breakwater on Plymouth Sound.

The Ministry of Defence, which owns the site, was forced to change the locks and fight through the courts to regain control of the site after the last round of failed business dealings went sour in early 2001.

Now, a business partnership between Plymouth-based property developer and ex-BBC Director General Greg Dyke is promising to put Bovisand back on the diving map. Plans to build a luxury hotel and re-open the diving centre are said to be on the cards.

Local dive businesses, however, are not so sure. "I'll believe it when I see it." Sound Diving's* Steve Carpenter told Divernet. "Bovisand had a name, and it certainly attracted people down, but when you look at the sheer amount of money that will be needed - minimum £3 million - just to bring it back up to scratch... well, we'll wait and see."

Much of the renewed interest in reopening the dive centre has been attributed by the press to the 'Scylla effect' - a renewed level of interest in diving in the area, generated by the sinking of HMS Scylla.

*Sound Diving, Queen Anne Battery, Plymouth Tel 01752 670674


Related links
Bovisand up for grabs, April 2001
National Marine Aquarium website - with Scylla update pages
Previous news story
Scylla ready for divers to explore today
Plymouth's National Marine Aquarium gets go ahead to sink the Scylla



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