There seems to be a lot going on in Salcombe at the moment; new builds around every corner, a new business going into the old HSBC site and a building site where the Marine used to be. Let’s hope most of these are finished for summer, I can’t stand looking across to Salcombe and seeing the mess that is the Marine hotel.
It’s been an interesting couple of weeks on Facebook and in particular in a Facebook group dedicated to Salcombe. The group is represented by locals, incomers and visitors and to say there are some lively discussions would be under statement! The general theme being discussed is how all parties can make Salcombe a better place. There seems to be a mix of views about the development of Salcombe from “leave it alone” to “it’s improved”. I think I sit somewhere in the middle on this one. If it wasn’t for the money coming into Salcombe in the form of regeneration of housing stock and other second home owners who spruce up the houses they buy I think Salcombe would have died a long time ago. We may not all agree with some of the architecture that has been approved by SHDC and subsequently built, however many of the houses that were demolished were pretty down trodden and tired. Let’s face it if houses were not replaced we would all still be living in mud huts, it’s all about balance.
We can’t underestimate the importance of the second home owners, visitors and the money they spend locally; it’s what keeps Salcombe going. We need to build on this and ensure it keeps coming. What we don’t want is a situation whereby the locals resent the incomers and visitors and tensions rise. I was reminded recently of a pretty sad episode in Salcombe when a visitor renting Custom House had arranged a Tesco delivery on the day he arrived so he had all the basics stocked ready for a week in Salcombe rather than facing a trip to Tesco in KB. The Tesco man reversed along Fore St towards Union St only to receive some unwanted attention from local shop keepers...the Tesco guy (who was only doing his job) said it happens all too often when delivering in Salcombe and he hates coming here. I can quite understand local shop keepers wanting visitors to spend locally but how many of the locals buy 100% of their food and goods from Salcombe?? I am sure many use the supermarkets in KB too! The visitor in question also spends a fair few quid in Salcombe every year outside of the school holidays…which we all know is very much needed.
Personally I think the mix of locals, incomers and visitors is what makes Salcombe special. Take any one set away and Salcombe would be a different and less interesting place. The weather aside there is nowhere better to be in summer than Salcombe, you can take your foreign holidays and Cornwall and shove them where the sun don’t shine…it simply has to be Salcombe!
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