Dawlish Discussion

COUNCILLORS have agreed to withdraw controversial plans for development on the Lawn at Dawlish.

The decision follows a public outcry over the proposals to build a cultural pavilion, part of a failed bid for funding to the Coastal Communities Fund.

Despite suggestions from the funders that the town council could join forces with another Dawlish-based project being developed by transport charity Sustrans, councillors have decided not to proceed any further.

However, they will be evaluating the 100 plus pages of comments made during the consultation process and look to find other funding sources which may pay for potential town centre projects.

Although the planning application to Teignbridge Council will be withdrawn, that will only be done after officers have made recommendations.

Cllr Bob Vickery, the driving force behind the original plans, explained that this would indicate what, if any, development would be allowed by the planning authority.

The planning application attracted almost 300 individual objections.

The decision to withdraw the plans was made at a town council meeting last night (Tues).

For the full story, you can get the full online edition here

When does the Gazette go to press?

Today.

No, sorry I meant when do they actually print it. I didn't realise that it was as late as Tuesday night. 

Deadline for material is normally lunchtime on Monday, so this material will possibly appear next week.

The decision 'not to proceed further' was not taken as a result of the opposition, but because the feedback received from Coastal Communities Fund was that our bid did not hit the target objectives with high enough scores. We had been invited to meet Sustrans who have a different proposal because their project also includes a visitor centre, as distinct from a Tourist Information Centre. Their bid did score well and we stand to gain at least one element of our written proposal if they win an award of funding.  We judged that any attempt to combine the two projects would very posssibly result in the Sustrans proposals being held back by the funder's assessments of the Town Council proposals.

I wish that people would not refer to me as the "driving force" or other terms as it implies that nothing would have been attempted if I had not forced the issue. In fact there was a group of town councillors who gave whole hearted support throughout in the attempt to win significnat funding for the town.

The Council has also made it clear that there will be a review of comments before asking Teignbridge's "Town Centre Working Group" to consider building a revised town centre plan and looking at other funding sources.

Thanks Bob. I've not had time to buy the print copy yet, and didn't realise the item was online only. 

Its a shame that the paper continues to take a biased view against everything to do with this project, it does make one wonder whether the editor has an axe to grind. 

Although I obviously agree with Robert about the "driving force" comment, I think it is going too far to call the Gazette coverage biased

I think the paper is very careful to always provide balancing comments in their coverage.

Yes, the last few months have been rough, but the paper has a job to do in reporting the different views in Dawlish about the proposals.   It would have been good if more of the 45% who supported the council proposals had made their voices heard, but its in the nature of controversy that letters to the press tend to come from people protesting rather than supporting

No complaints here.  I did what I did with integrity.  Said what I meant and meant what I said.  Now we can all take a breather and those with other ideas for the Lawn can come forward

@Robert Vickery

How about resignations from the council members forming the support group now then, would seem the right and honorable thing to do.

Also commenting that over 300 objections do not constitute a valid reason for withdrawing the planning application just about sums up the thoughts of those whom sit on the planning committee at Teignbridge. Which is why Dawlish is rapidly becoming a developers dream come true with low cost low quality wood huts replacing and destroying the countryside, not because there is a quantifiable local need but because the same said councillors see a £10,000 grant for each one built. Its time for a change at TDC also

For those who like the detail, I have reproduced below the paper that the Council voted on at Tuesday's meeting.   Apologies for the length, but I didnt want to edit it and be accused of leaving out anything important. 

Report to Dawlish Town Council, Tuesday 19 August, 2014

Coastal Communities Fund (CCF)

Executive Summary of Recommendations

• That no further work is done to progress a stage two bid for the Town Council proposals. 
• That the current planning application is withdrawn once the Planning Officer recommendation and supporting rationale has been published.
• That the Sustrans bid is a matter for that organisation. It is not proposed that this council becomes a partner to their bid at this late stage.
• That time is taken to evaluate fully the responses from the June consultation
• That the Council should be recommended to present this information to the Teignbridge Town Centre Working Party so that the District Council can undertake consultation on a revised master plan for the Lawn
• Potential Funding sources for future funding bids related to potential town centre projects are identified in this report.

Background Information

The bid submitted to CCF at the end of April was called “Dawlish Lawn Bandstand events base and Playpark”  and the aims were set out as:

“The local authority-led project aims to deliver facilities which will attract visitors to the town and so extend the season and attract all ages.  The project will benefit 60 local businesses and create 24 new jobs and sustain at least 40 existing jobs. 

The long-awaited improvement in the public realm will transform the town as a visitor destination. It will provide entertainment for visitors when the seafront and beaches may be cut off by tides or rough weather. “

It comprised the following main elements:

• To create a playpark to attract children and younger people following a model that has been widely acclaimed.

• To demolish an ugly open-fronted bandstand and replace it with a performance stage that can be opened or enclosed in all weather and times of day. An integrated foyer will provide a cultural space as a media shopfront for the town museum and a valuable photographic archive. The foyer can be combined with the stage for a wide range of events, attracting visitors. The building will operate day and night throughout the year in all weather.

• The appointment of a cultural curator to engage with other organisations to ensure a continuing programme of activities.

• To create an audio trail running from the Parish church in the west, to the beaches, seafront, the existing Brunel trail, South Devon Coast Path and railway station, to reveal the characteristics of Dawlish and its surroundings, and the renowned waterfowl collection. 

• To replace current decorative lighting to the Brook by more economic LED lighting displays across the water, increasing the attraction of the town in the evenings, and use low level lighting to improve the public realm of The Lawn's unlit southern footpath.

As was reported to the meeting of Town Council on 30th July, the scheme was unsuccessful at Stage one but, because there were two bids for Dawlish with separate but overlapping aims, we were invited to meet CCF staff and the other bidder, Sustrans, to explore the prospects for an improved bid at Stage two.

Meeting with Local Funding Officer, Big Lottery, on Monday 11th August.

The broad content of that meeting, including Sustrans representatives, has been reported.

One key factor is that CCF is offering the opportunity for a single Dawlish bid to progress to Stage Two of competitive bidding, which could include elements of the two schemes. There is no possibility of two separate schemes being allowed to progress further in competition. 

The officer gave feedback on both of the proposals and emphasised the overlap in the intention to improve visitor facilities with the expected outcome of increased visitor spend in Dawlish.

The strength of the Town Council bid lay in the projection of job creation, support and sustainability, which had not been drawn out to the same extent in the Sustrans bid.

The strength of the Sustrans bid lay in the background development which CCF understands to have taken place in preparing the ground to bring a cycle route into central Dawlish and a visitor destination, completing the link in the Exeter – Dawlish route. (Sustrans have told us that the detail of their potential route is CONFIDENTIAL at this stage)

In neither case did planning, architectural or engineering drawings play a part in CCF appraisal and scoring.

The visitor reception function was common in intent in both schemes and is likely to form a strong feature of a successful proposal.

Our attention was drawn to the cost per job factor in our schemes which runs at around  £35-40,000 capital investment per job created or supported, and is greatly in excess of other projects.

The officer explained the context of strong competition for funding, especially from others who had been unsuccessful in earlier rounds and were thus better placed now by responding to earlier weaknesses.  She then drew attention to alternative Lottery programmes that may be suitable sources for funding some elements.

Conclusions

There is a very clear indication that the link between capital investment, in reconstructing the bandstand and playpark, and the return, in increased visitor or local numbers shopping,  (Cost per job) is not as strong as in competing bids.

We are being directed towards alternative sources of funding, or to wait for a better match to programme.

Sustrans believe that they have the opportunity through their bid to succeed at CCF stage two.  This could result in some improvement to the visitor experience of Dawlish, and help sustain local businesses. There may be a role for the Town Council to help this process by providing details of the research for its stage one bid and offering commentary on the Sustrans plans as they continue to develop.

Commentary of parts of the DTC scheme and future funding opportunities

Playpark

Initial consideration of the public consultation suggests strong support for a town centre play park, but there is a need for further dialogue about the location of such a facility.

There is a Town Centre Working Group under the direction of Teignbridge with local councils and business involvement.  It is suggested that they continue to look at this issue.  It has been put to us by CCF that the revenue fund of the Reaching Communities programme could deliver up to £100,000 which may also be used to draw down other match funding from charitable trusts with childrens' play objectives.  TDC is known to be holding some funding for the town centre.

Bandstand linked to Visitor Foyer

Recognising that a successful Sustrans development will deliver improved Visitor Experience functions elsewhere in the town centre, there is a strong argument to focus any future bandstand replacement solely as an improved performance stage.  It is unlikely that any current programme can be used for a single function reconstruction of the bandstand in the traditional form.

It may be that the most hopeful source of funding to replace the current bandstand will be allocating CILevy monies for this purpose.

The TDC-led Town Centre Working Group needs to embrace this subject by progressing  the long awaited Teignbridge public consultation on a Lawn Master Plan

Appointment of an Events Promoter to engage with other organisations to ensure a continuing programme of activities.

This job will not exist in the form envisaged in the application to CCF, but it is essential that effort continues to be made to publish seasonal programmes of events, wherever held, and to expand the range of programmes to appeal to younger audiences.  It is suggested that the C.I.C. gives serious consideration to how this can be developed by the incoming Town Centre Manager, and what will happen when the two year funding for this expires.

Creation of an audio trail and linkage with coast path and other trails.

Sustrans aims to improve signage for cycling and will embrace the pedestrian signage links that may be seen as missing, after consultation with local walking groups. (Walking for Health, etc.,)  The Town Centre Manager and the CIC can be advised of the CCF suggestion that Awards For All is a suitable and accessible source of funding for setting up trails, publishing, etc.,

Modern design of coloured lighting for the Brook and Lawn footpath.

Teignbridge has plans to introduce LED coloured bulbs into the present installation and this will provide environmental benefits and a lowered running cost.

The Town Centre Working Group should be asked to include a review of footpath lighting to ensure public safety, in view of the unlit southern path and to help encourage the development of a night time economy.

Central to all these proposals is the need for Teignbridge District Council to produce a plan for public consultation about the whole of central Dawlish so that any future funding opportunity can produce an application with established support.

The Town Council seized the nettle and brought the need for enhancement of the Lawn back to the forefront of consideration. It is essential that the District Council now pick up the baton if Dawlish is not to lose even more of the local businesses.

@Michael Clayson

With all due respect could I just ask why you are obsessed with the town centre and in particular development of the lawn. Having seen over £1.75 million spent recently on the Strand side with no noticable change to any of the businesses or any increase in visitor numbers. Is it not time to look further a field around and about Dawlish for sites needing investment and redevelopment.

The proposed bandstand would have been a much more welcomed addition to the Warren where there is ample parking etc. 

@Fred

I think it important to try and keep our town centre alive so that local people can shop there if they wish, enjoy the cafes and generally have a space to socialise with their neighbours. 

It is important to the tourist economy too, and helps preserve employment in the town

The issue at the Warren is always the conflict between nature preservation and the commercial development of the resort.

Where exactly would you see a bandstand being built? 

looking towards the sea from the main access road there is a section of grass banking to the right of the boat house. The bank curves around towards the red rock cafe. If the new banstand was built into the bank with the open performance stage looking out on the remaining grass area this would leave the closed end accessable from the existing sea wall road for support vehicles etc. The site on the left where the wood huts used to be would be ideal for a new play park like Teignmouths with water features.

The town centre case is not about survival. The businesses there will just carry on as normal and no doubt the coach loads of over 60s will still arrive on a daily basis. It dosent need re-development its fine as it is and how its always been, so move on 

Resignations? Don't make me laugh! How about the whinge bags resign from moaning about the same old same old.   

The wood louse plan was flawed from the start, if CCF had not rejected it then I highly suspect TDC would have done so at the planning stage.  I see the face saving has already started.  The local elections next year will be interesting, I suspect certain councillors could receive a kick in the ballots.

@ Fred. 

Im not not technically adept enough to say whether what you suggest is physically feasible - I leave that to others.  What I do know is that Natural England played merry hell with suggestions of a small play park in front of the Boathouse, so there would be "issues" over a bandstand.  It's all to do with a special form of grass ( I kid you not ) that is legally protected.

But, if anyone on the Teignbridge working party wants to explore this further, they have your suggestion.

A bandstand at the Warren instead of the Lawn ? Is that a joke? 

Burneside (Councillor Swift's Brother?) I find it rather suprising that you continue to be so unpleasantly outspoken about Dawlish Town Councils' business, are you openly as critical of your local Councillors in London. Unfortunately for you, only residents of Dawlish and the surrounding villages who are registered electors will be permitted to vote in the next elections.  

@Likeablerat

As I have already pointed out to others, you have no knowledge of my present domestic circumstances.

Dorian, I hear that Exmouth Town Council are planning to move their town centre bandstand from Manor Gardens to Sandy Bay...

That's just the sort of creative thinking we need. I must get on to Boris to see how his plan for moving the one in Hyde Park to Hackney Marshes is doing.  

So, the usual suspects are back to their bullying ways. 

Why the question mark LikeableRat? I think Councillor Linda Petherick made it very clear in her post a few weeks ago what Burneside's relationship is to me. However, the rest of her information just showed how out of date she is. 

Margaret Swift

Yes you are correct the usual suspects are back to their bullying ways, looking for signs of weakness and then focusing the cross hairs on their next victim, 

I just get the impression that our society is hell bent on the development of public open spaces. (and worse still nature reserves) and for what ... all in the interests of ching ching cashing in.  Where are we now, waiting to see what we can get away with, what can be built on the lawn, like there is a crack in the planning policy that protects it just waiting to be opened up and exploited.   The land designation that protects the Newhay (although a dog toilet) the Manor, the lawn, the playing fields, the warren coastal grass communities and dunes, all need strengthening 'cos believe it or not the world IS a better place with them.   What next, outside developers throwing cash incentives our way (ie Ashcombe solar farm) to relinquish what we should cherish.  

Heaven help our open spaces!