General Discussion
It was such a lovely day yesterday (Saturday) that I couldn’t help but take myself out for a walk down to the Warren.
I started off along Warren Road and, as I passed Warren Farm, I could see farmer Richard Weeks at the far end of one of his fields putting feed out for his sheep. I lent against the farm gate for some 5 minutes or so watching this lovely scene with its backdrop of the sparkling sea and the East Devon cliffs and then carried on with my journey.
Oh dear! What’s that my nose is telling me it can smell? A bit of an er.......how shall I say? A bit of an aroma? Know what I mean? And it definitely wasn’t the smell of processed animal manure I can assure you of that. Not sure that visitors to TDC’s proposed adjacent coastal park would appreciate this particular ‘attraction’ either. (But for some reason TDC doesn’t seem bothered.)
So, hurrying along to get away from this offence to my olfactory organ I followed the bend in the road to where it becomes Mount Pleasant road (and I can assure you it certainly did smell considerably more pleasant there than it did some 50 yards further back!)
Down into the Warren. My! The place was absolutely thronging with people. The car parks were really quite full (TDC must have made good takings on Saturday and it did make me wonder just how much revenue TDC would lose if its proposed coastal park were to indeed intercept people from going on down to the Warren. A cash strapped local authority cutting off a source of much needed income? The logic of TDC’s thinking is beyond me, really, it is).
Kids and dogs on the beach having great times playing. I decided to walk inland a bit first of all. Where the National Nature Reserve is. Quite a few people there as well. But not surprising really given as how TDC advertises the NNR. Truly. It does. Despite all TDC’s recent protestations that people need to be dissuaded from visiting the NNR, TDC nonetheless advertises it as a place to visit. That’s another bit of TDC ‘logic’ that is totally beyond my comprehension.
Anyway, I walked inland and parallel with the beach for a while but then decided I had better turn back and did so by walking along the beach. Absolutely fantastic. There had been quite a low tide and although the tide had now turned the expanse of beach was still such that although a lot of people there was room enough (and more) for everyone to have space and enjoy a walk. A walk with the added bonus of views of Exmouth and the Jurassic cliffs of the East Devon coast to one side and the cliffs of Babbacombe and Berry Head to the other.
A Panorama.
And I thought to myself, I honestly did, who in their right minds would go for a walk around the proposed coastal park (which from what I understand will only have footpaths, nothing more. TDC’s line apparently being ‘Less is more’ – ain’t got any money to do anything else more like!) when tourists and we residents alike can enjoy such fantastic walks down at the Warren?
I wonder how many blue flag beaches boast a mention of a sewage treatment works and a death from e-coli on their Wikipedia page. Maybe TDC is starting with a low key deterrent strategy by editing public domain information. 
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawlish_Warren
