A resounding dissatisfaction was felt during the Public Meeting held in Salcombe, which was organised too ascertain how residents felt about the proposal of Open Spaces land being transferred to Salcombe Town Council-including the Berry.

The meeting held on Tuesday, October 3, held at Cliff House was an opportunity for the residents of Salcombe to decipher and understand the options available for their public parklands.

The general resolution at the end of the discussion was that Salcombe Town Council should negotiate with South Hams District Council to have all of the Berry transferred to Salcombe.

The Berry is an iconic piece of land in Salcombe so the proposal that South Hams District Council transfer it to the Town Council while keeping an area, known as ‘Plot A’ for themselves has aggravated the town. Residents are displeased with the idea that the land could be developed on and would like to protect it.

The purpose of the meeting as put forward by the Salcombe Town Council’s solicitor, Richard Bagwell was to explain what has happened up to this point, discuss the proposal from SHDC and ascertain the views of Salcombe residents.

Firstly, Mr Bagwell explained how the Council had got to this stage; he looked into the historical ownership of The Berry leading to a meeting with SHDC to discuss the land ownership.

At the meeting, rather than simply discuss the transfer of The Berry or the renewal of the lease that had originally given the Town Council control over the land, SHDC also proposed to transfer other parcels of land to the Town Council.

He stressed that: “Nothing has been agreed, it is simply a proposal.”

SHDC have identified various pieces of land, some of which are subject to charitable trusts which impacts the restrictions on the land.

There are around a dozen pieces of land that SHDC are offering to transfer over to Salcombe Town Council along with the Berry.

These include: the land forming The Park, Cliff Road Public Open Space, the land at ‘The Berry’, land on the north side of Fortescue Road, land on the west side of St Dunstans Road, land lying to the north of Suncroft Fortescue Road, land at St Dunstans Road, land to the north of Fortescue Road, the Recreation Ground on Courtenay Street, Cross Garden land and the War Memorial and Public Conveniences at Cliff Road.

Specifically related to the Berry, it was highlighted that some of the land would always be protected for Salcombe.

However, SHDC would like to keep ‘Plot A’ for themselves and as this section is not subject to any charitable trusts there are only limited restrictions on this area of land. For example, more one than one detached house cannot be built on the land and the land cannot be quarried.

The meeting continued into an open forum where residents were able to ask questions and put forward their ideas.

Rob Wheeler asked: “Is the transfer of ‘The Berry” subject to the condition of us accepting all the other pieces of land?”

To which Mr Bagwell responded by admitting, how that is something that actually hasn’t been discussed yet.

“The meeting with SHDC was made with the intention of discussing purely the Berry as I was asking the District Council to transfer it back to the Town Council.

“They wanted to discuss also, even though it wasn’t on the agenda, the transfer of these other parcels of land.”

According to Mr Bagwell, this approach is quite common; it has happened all around the country when assets have been transferred to the community.

“From a District Councils perspective, it relieves a responsibility of maintaining those areas.”

He highlighted how areas such as Cliff House Gardens would cost a considerable amount to maintain, which was a topic discussed at length on Tuesday evening.

A member of the public asked what issues there would be with continuing to lease the Berry, to which the Mr Bagwell explained how currently the lease is carrying on until a formal arrangement is made; either to create a new lease or to have the land transferred.

Salcombe Town Council have looked into renewing the lease if another solution is not reached, which could last for a further 15 years.

Rob Wheeler highlighted the maintenance costs of the extra parcels of land by explaining how: “I’m sure that people would like to see the open spaces coming under Salcombe’s care, which means about £25,000 extra that has got to be raised.

“If they are going to expect us to take on these costs would it not make sense for them to give us Whitestrand back as well as the rest of the land.”

Mr Wheeler and the Mayor put their figures together to state that the car parks in Salcombe have an income of around half a million per annum.

Mr Wheeler stated that” “We would have the income to look after the rest of this land and hopefully secure it for the town regardless of what happens with this West Devon merger.”

The Mayor responded that: “I wouldn’t argue with that, we have to have an income stream to fund the costs.”

Wheeler stressed that: “My personal concern is we are currently witnessing what amounts to almost a circus with West Devon merging with South Hams district Council, so I am very concerned about the future…if we will begin to lose the local care of open spaces.”

A member of the public later highlighted how most people in the room were mainly concerned with the Berry, but SHDC have thrown other pieces of land into the equation which could be seen as a liability. This was seconded by other residents who stated that their main concern was that Salcombe could maintain influence over the future of the Berry.

To conclude, the Mayor stated the three main opinions that came out of the meeting. Firstly that the agreement should stay the same and the lease should be renewed. Secondly that the Town Council should look to negotiate with SHDC to have all of The Berry transferred including the plot of land that the District Council want to develop.

Lastly, that they could negotiate on the whole parcel of land if they could secure an ongoing income to cover the cost of maintenance.

The general consensus was that most people would like the second option to be sorted and look into the third option as a long term solution.