COURTLAND—Southampton County Board of Supervisors gave permission for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to build a $200,000 boat ramp off General Thomas Highway at Shady Brook Trail between Franklin and Newsoms.

The Department of Game will build the ramp on 1.5 acres belonging to Ashland, which lies in an area zoned for light industrial use. The zoning allows for boat ramps through what’s known as a conditional-use permit.

The Department of Game has a boat ramp on the other side of General Thomas Highway at the same location. Plans to widen the road will eliminate access to that ramp for access to the Nottaway River.

The new boat ramp will include a dock and a paved parking lot and should be ready this summer.