General Discussion

Richard Weeks has put an interesting post on the Warren Farm FB Page

https://www.facebook.com/warrenfarmdawlish

Did you mean this one?

Had some good news today. A meeting with Stephen Williams MP.(under Secretary of state for communities and local government) has been confirmed. We will meet him at the end of January with our petition. Have started to collect the final papers from shops and businesses around Dawlish and the Warren. Thank you to all the retailers for your help and support. We now have over 4,000 signatures. Lets hope Stephen Williams will take on board our message;
Warren Farm is not for S.A.N.G.S
No to compulsory purchase order by TDC
New housing developers at Dawlish should provide their own land for green open spaces.
Thanks to all who have signed for your support.

Yes Flo thats it, Im currently having a problem cutting and pasting on this site, so I couldnt post it

Just had a Conservative leaflet pushed through the letterbox. It is called Dawlish Residents Report. I think they mean Dawlish Residents' Report.

Anyhow, not one word is there about the plight of the Weeks family and their battle to save Warren Farm.

Compare that noticeable absence with the lead feature in the latest Lib Dem leaflet. Big headlines Save Warren Farm. Underneath is written: "Conservative led Teignbridge Council wants Warren Farm for a coastal park - a move which would threaten his family's livelihood. Richard's father started farming this land in 1957. The Weeks family wants to keep Warren Farm - and keep farming".     

https://www.facebook.com/warrenfarmdawlish?fref=ts latest post on here is a comment from David Cox

So Mr Cox is doing his best to Kill the businesses' down at the Warren, what a thicko. Any day now will TDC get out the barbed wire to close off the Warren

A couple of days back someone said to me how quiet TDC had become about the Warren Farm issue. I agreed that it had.

Perhaps it's my cynical take on things but here's what I believe is happening.

Unless there is some legislative reason for TDC to press ahead with anything concerning Warren Farm this side of the local elections (due to be held in May) they will not do so.

Why press ahead with such a contentious issue this side of May when to do so could threaten whether or not our present Dawlish district councillors get re-elected?

Teignbridge District Council has been Conservative controlled for most of the past 4 years but of late it has needed support from the Independent group of councillors in order to maintain control of the council and council policies. 

So, the policy to turn Warren Farm into a coastal park SANGS (and by way of a compulsory purchase order if necessary) was originally a Conservative one but this policy is now being supported by the Independent group of councillors. It seems to me therefore that if enough Conservative and Independent councillors get (re)elected in May, thereby keeping control of  Teignbridge District Council, then their policy concerning Warren Farm will not only be maintained but also that whatever legal procedures are needed to obtain the farm and turn it into a coastal park will be initiated as soon as they possibly can be.

How strongly you feel about the Warren Farm issue (and that could be either way of course) might well dictate whether you vote for those who are in favour of it becoming a coastal park SANGS or for those who are in favour of it remaining a farm.           

Dawlish presently has 4 Conservative councillors (Cllrs Hockin, Price, Clemens and Prowse) and 1 Independent councillor (Cllr Petherick).   

I don't think it is (Lib Dem) Cllr David Cox who is threatening the closure of the Warren car parks. It seems to me Cllr Cox is telling us that that it is the (Conservative) deputy leader of TDC,Cllr Stuart Barker, who alluded to that course of action. .

I know this link has already been posted. But here it is again - with more comments now.

https://www.facebook.com/warrenfarmdawlish?fref=ts

I imagine TDC's argument for saying they might have to close the Warren car parks if they can't have Warren Farm as a SANGS, is because they need to protect the Warren NNR and Exe Estuary from extra visitors because of all the extra people living in this area courtesy of the new houses. And if they don't have Warren Farm as a coastal park then the only way they can stop visitors from going to the Warren is to close the car parks.

But hang on a minute........wasn't (isn't?) TDC's argument for having a coastal park at Warren Farm that they need it to be there in order to stop people visiting the Warren? So, either way the traders at the Warren could be adversely affected.  

(posting this at approximatrely 08.40. Fully expect it to be "reported by others" in a matter of minutes. Wonder who might be doing that then? Thoughts anyone?)   

Any clues?

In the words of that great philosopher Shaggy, it wasn't me. 

And on this business of closing the Warren car parks.

So..........TDC would advocate closing down a source of much needed revenue (car parking fees at the Warren car parks). Really? I mean, but really!?

And will they also be urging Network Rail to close down the Warren rail station and the bus providers to stop services to/from the Warren completely?

I mean, we can't have people visiting the Warren can we? (Well, according to TDC , we can't)

How much revenue is received from these car parks?

Am told (via a private e-mail and thus can't say who told me, but the info is from someone who would know) that in 2013 TDC had an income of £155,671 from the Dawlish Warren car parks.

Have looked on TDC's website for more info but cant find anything.    

Thank you. That's a lot of money!

Sorry to double post, but just to advise you and your source that their figure is actually income received between 1st April and 30th August of 2014. 

And in that time frame it was by far the highest revenue earning TDC car park in the whole of Teignbridge!

http://m.teignbridge.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=42239&p=0

Thank you for that link and the info in it. Very interesting. This is what it says on page 41 re car park income from the car park(s) at Dawlish Warren.

Income April to August 2013 = £149,275

Income April to August 2014 = £155,671

And as cars continue to park there outside of the April to August time period the amount per financial year must be higher than that shown between April to August.    

I will send that link to my source.  

I have e-mailed TDC asking for a break down of monies received from each car park (the outer one and the inner one) for the financial years April 6th 2012-April 5th 2013 and April 6th 2013-April 5th 2014

Front Page of todays Gazette makes good reading

Yes it does. http://www.dawlishnewspapers.co.uk/news.cfm?id=26311&headline=Tourism%20group%20hails%20Warren%20campaign%20%E2%80%98resounding%20success%E2%80%99

Such a pity then that TDC want to deter visitors from going to the Warren by way of TDC having a coastal park at Warren Farm. For that, according to TDC, is its raison d'etre. It needs to be there to stop people going to the Warren!

Also, because of policy EN2 in TDC's local plan it may turn out that the expansion in the number of tourist beds in the Warren and Exe estuary area may be restricted if not an absolute No No. So an increase in demand may not be able to be met by an increase in the supply of tourist accommodation.

When I can wrap my head around all the apparent contradictions coming out of TDC and work out the logic (begging the question of course that there is logic in there somewhere) I might write a letter............    

Here's a thought. Perhaps TDC have got themselves all tangled up in these apparent contradictions because they changed their plans for

Warren Farm. So that instead of its just becoming a coastal park it was to become a coastal park SANGS.  It's the SANGS bit that makes all

the difference.

Let's go back a bit. (and I'll just park the ownership of the land issue to one side for the moment)

1. When the Dawlish Neighbourhood Plan #1 was first put together (2011/2012) the proposal was for Warren Farm to become a coastal park with all sorts of attractions including an amphitheatre. This park would become a tourist attraction in itself and thus would benefit the tourist economy of the area but potentially especially the businesses in the Warren, the coastal park easily being in walking distance. Another attraction for Dawlish Warren Tourism group to advertise.

2. However, because of all the new housing due to take place in the area TDC needs SANGS to mitigate.

3. So someone (a planner?) in TDC had the whizz bang idea of designating the proposed coastal park as a SANGS thus killing two birds with one stone.

4. This then gets adopted into TDC's local plan but we end up with all the contradictions that we have now because the same area (the coastal park) that was originally planned to attract people to the Warren is now supposed to have the opposite function, as a SANGS, to stop people going to the Warren.

5. ?!

As I say that is only a hypothesis. I am only trying to figure out the apparent non sense of it all.   

So.........with the silence still continuing on this matter from the vast majority of our councillors (both town and district) might I suggest that if they come knocking on our doors in the coming weeks and/or have stalls in the town in an effort to get themselves re-elected, perhaps those of us concerned about this issue might take the opportunity to ask them all what their stance is on it and more to the point why they ain't gone public with their thoughts.

Town councillor email addresses are in this link:

http://www.dawlish.gov.uk/textonly/members.php

Figures just received from TDC re revenue generated from the two Dawlish Warren car parks:

2012-13

Fees and Charges £179,456

PCNs £2,363

Licenses /Permits- £2,060

2013-14

Fees and Charges £235,439

PCN’s £2,723

Licenses and/ Permits £2,163

Misc £200

The figure for April -August 2014 is £155,671

Lynne go on Eyes of Dawlish

Meanwhile in the Gazette 'Tourism group hails Warren campain "resounding success". '    Visitor numbers have rocketed.    Who's in charge over there?!

http://www.dawlishnewspapers.co.uk/news.cfm?id=26311&headline=Tourism%20group%20hails%20Warren%20campaign%20%E2%80%98resounding%20success%E2%80%99

@roberta - thanks for bringing that eod thread to my (and others?) attention.

This business about TDC and the Warren. Take a look at the revenue they get from the car parks. To use a particularly apt expression those car parks and the revenue they generate is the goose that lays a golden egg for TDC. (£££££££ssssss). Would TDC shoot that goose? Could TDC afford to shoot that goose?

Also see lead letter in today's Gazette re TDC's planning policies and Warren/Cofton/Cockwood/Starcross tourist accommodation expansion. 

I've just read that EoD thread and it makes no sense! Someone wrote that dog walking is being banned in the Warren, but there's no evidence that this is actually the case. Not that I can see.