RIVER users have warned that new £200,000 moorings planned for Wallingford will not be fit for purpose unless the design is changed.

South Oxfordshire District Council, which is funding the project, has submitted a planning application to build 136 metres of moorings to boost the town’s tourist industry and encourage boaters to stay in the town instead of heading up-river to Abingdon.

But river users have warned the proposed moorings on the east bank of the River Thames will be so high that the project may become a white elephant.

The council has warned that if the design is changed, it could threaten the roots of historic trees lining the riverbank. The moorings will range from between 0.7 metres and 1.5 metres above the average summer high-tide mark.

The chairman of the local River Thames User Group, John Dalton, said people in low boats, particularly if elderly or disabled, would find the proposed moorings impossible to use.

Mr Dalton said: “They would be the highest moorings on the non-tidal Thames.

“It is ridiculous. It’s absolutely not fit for purpose.

“I’m not convinced that there is not a better way of doing it. If not, we’re going to get the same problem that we already have – people will not stop at Wallingford.”

Boat owner John Gordon, who rows a mile from his home in Bow Bridge to shop in Wallingford, said: “There is a longer-term underlying issue about Wallingford’s failure to make proper use of the river and make sure people other than power cruisers and the rowing community has access.”

However, the district councillor responsible for the project, Rodney Mann, said the riverbank largely determined what could be built.

He said: “They are lower than the moorings on the opposite side of the river, which are extremely popular, and they will allow many more people to stop and visit the town, which is what we’re trying to achieve.”

On Monday, Wallingford Town Council backed the scheme. Clerk Andrew Rogers said it was an important project, and the trees were “sacrosanct”.