A riverside café and a stage with terraced grass seating are included in the latest plans for a new marina on the Thames in Brentford.

The proposed £5.45m jetty beside Watermans Park still features 26 berths, arranged in herringbone fashion, but Hounslow Council planners have modified some details following criticism of their initial plans which went on display last November.

The most significant changes are to the park itself, where the number of parking spaces for boat owners has been reduced and more details of the proposed new play area and other facilities have been provided.

Public consultation on the revised plans began with a two-day exhibition at Watermans arts centre on June 13 and 16 and is set to run until July 17.

Boat owners already moored at the site would have to be evicted to enable the marina's construction but the council now says it is "likely" to accept applications from them to return, provided they meet strict criteria.

They would also have to be able to afford the mooring fee, which the council says will be comparable to charges elsewhere in London.

At nearby Brentford Dock, the quarterly mooring fee is just under £50 a metre, meaning the owner of a 10m-long boat would pay £2,000 a year.

The proposed riverside pathway through the park beside the new marina

The council claims the boats now there are moored illegally, an assertion the occupiers contest. It says the marina would help regenerate the area as well as providing extra income for the council.

But boat-dwellers living there, and elsewhere in the borough, said at the exhibition on Tuesday (June 13) they feared overly strict regulations risked turning the riverside location into a sterile environment.

The draft mooring criteria refer to boats being kept "presentable and in a good state of decorative repair", but the notes refer to there being no controls at present over TV aerials and hanging laundry, suggesting these could be bought in. The notes do, however, state the rules are not designed to reduce the area's "vibrancy".

Catherine Flood, who lives on a boat in nearby Town Wharf, said: "Houseboats shouldn't be decoration for people living in luxury apartments by the river. They're a viable way of living and one that's traditionally been affordable for people who might otherwise be priced out of the capital."

Paul Mendoza, who lives on one of the boats beside Watermans Park, also expressed concerns the regulations would be too strict.

"If you live in a house you can do what you want with the garden and it should be the same with the deck of a boat," he said.

"I'm worried it will be like a glorified caravan park but Brentford is where I've made my life and I would like to stay here if it's affordable."

Stephen Alexander, a TV producer who has lived on his boat Nemesis beside Watermans Park for a decade, said he thought the plans would make the moorings and park more attractive.

Boatholder Stephen Alexander at the public exhibition about plans for a new marina in Brentford

But he was concerned the layout would make the boats vulnerable to damage, due to the ebb and flow of the tide, and also feared key workers like nurses and teachers currently living on the boats would be unable to afford the mooring fees.

One resident at the exhibition, who asked not to be named, said the proposed layout meant the boats would restrict views along the Thames.

Jennifer Corbin and Norma Nathan, who live in Brentford, said: "It looks better. It couldn't be any worse. What makes me laugh is all the posh boats in the photos, when you think about some of the wrecks there now."

The council expects to submit a planning application for the marina late this year and, should it be approved, to begin work in 2016.

You can see the latest plans and have your say here.