We Must Protect Salcombe's Shoreline!

There seems to be a worrying trend creeping into Salcombe's shoreline which could have dramatic consequences if it is not checked.

The owner of The Vinery on Bennett Road has put a planning application in to build a boat house on the foreshore. The proposed boathouse is a world away from the existing one. The same person also wants to build a jetty on the foreshore. These applications if approved will change the shoreline forever and more importantly set a precedent for others to follow, and follow they surely will as money is no object to the owners of these water front properties. Don't get me wrong Salcombe welcomes their money and input into the town and understands that Salcombe may well be a very different place without this "new economy", however development especially along the water side can't go unchecked.

This leads me on to the even more worrying trend concerning our foreshores; namely the beginnings of the enforcement of the "private foreshore" which each house owns. I noticed this last summer for the first time with the owners of Mill Bay who began to try to rope off areas of the beach for their own use, this trend was also apparent in the owners refusal to let the regatta committee use Fisherman's for their fireworks.

The most recent incident came when a father and his 2 sons were stopped on the foreshore near Woodcott and asked if they knew it was private land; apparently this is not the first time this has happened on this stretch of foreshore. This was recently pointed out my a member of the public who attended one of the Salcombe Town Council meetings, this person also voiced concerns that this situation could be even more of a concern once the foreshore began to be developed and the owners started to keep people off the shore and utilise it for their own private use.

Yes, legally they do own these stretches of foreshore but they are not acting in the spirit of the law, these foreshores have been used for decades by the public and the owners of these magnificent water side properties should understand that it is only by default that the foreshore is theirs and respect the use of it by the general public. The last thing we want is for rich second home owners to build their own personal "castles" and make Salcombe even more of a rich mans playground with none of the charm and simplicity that makes Salcombe great...what next private pontoons followed by a marina?

Lets all enjoy Salcombe and ensure that we retain as much of the traditional Salcombe as we can.