From beach huts to charging for public toilets-Salcombe Town Council have raised concerns over the proposals put forward by South Hams district council.

At the last Executive Committee meeting of South Hams district council, on the list for councillors to consider, was the concept of building beach huts at North Sands and South Sands.

Town councillors were concerned that the implementation of these huts into the town, could effect not only the appearance of the proposed locations and the satisfaction of residents, but also safety factors.

The Mayor, Cllr Mike Fice was concerned about the presence of the builds in “an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty” and questioned why the town needed them. Additionally, he highlighted a “safety” issue in regards to the positioning of the proposed huts at North Sands, because children would need to cross the road to get to the beach from the huts which would be positioned on the grassy area opposite the beach.

Cllr Lindy Sinnott expressed her frustration that the town has to put up with cutting services, while new unnecessary ideas were being considered. “We can’t be seen to be reducing these services and then implementing these ludicrous ideas” said Cllr Sinnott.

The town council decided to respond to the district council in regard to these proposals. The Mayor voiced the councils objections: “We feel that beach huts at South Sands and North Sands are totally inappropriate for an AONB”.

Adding that: “We[town council] feel that this is sending the wrong message to your[SHDC] council tax payers when you’re spending money on what appears to be frivolous projects when basic services are being cut.”

Another subject discussed at the Executive Committee meeting was the proposed changes to public toilets across the South Hams. These changes could result in the introduction of charges to pubic toilets across Salcombe.

Councillors were concerned that this would impact the satisfaction of visitors to the popular tourist destination and current businesses owners and employees in the centre of the town.

Cllr Nikki Turton commented on how a lot of the shops in the town don’t have toilets on their premises which results in staff members needing to use the public toilets.

The change would also impact all those who work on the water without personal facilities, raised Cllr Philip Lafferty-Holt, who warned that this would mean employees would use pub facilities which could aggravate landlords in the town.

Additionally, it could send the wrong message to visitors, added Cllr Lafferty-Holt. “You come to a seaside village like Salcombe, it is an AONB, its pretty, its attractive and for me it sends the wrong message if you are charging.”

Mayor, Cllr Fice explained to the council that SHDC have said that this service is non-statutory, which means they don’t have to provide free public toilets. However, he stressed that the town is a key tourist destination, that attracts many day visitors who rely on this service.

Cllr Lafferty Holt also addressed the rarity of loose change in the modern world. In Salcombe, “everyone has phones” and cards which they “tap” to pay with, said Cllr Lafferty-Holt. He questioned who would have a spare 20p in their pocket every time they needed to use the public toilets.

Councillors concluded that their concerns were due to Salcombe being a tourist destination, with a “significant number of daily visitors” and “people who work on the water”, who would be impacted if public toilets included a charge.

Comparing these two new proposals, Cllr Fice admitted that “the two don’t balance up”. He recognised that they were separate budgets “but for the layman that doesn’t stack up”.

Councillors agreed that the Mayor and Deputy Mayor would look over the final statement before sending their concerns back to SHDC.