It has been a busy year! Events from March to June 2007 were reported in detail in the Summer Newsletter, and just to summarise:
Our Annual General Meeting was held on 20th March 2007 and was followed by a fascinating talk by Brig. John Constant giving an insight into his earlier days in Dartmouth and Dittisham.
Our Spring Outing on 24th May took us to two local historic sites, Compton Castle and Berry Pomeroy Castle, with a delightful lunch stop in Compton - a memorable trip in perfect weather.
The Summer Party on 22nd June was held at the Royal Dart Yacht Club, where its was good to see so many members enjoying the fine weather and location.
Our set of four general meetings in the winter covered a wide range of local topics. In October, Mike Perriam gave us a fascinating insight into some of the historic industries of South Dartmoor. Our scheduled speaker for November had to call off at short notice due to illness, but we were fortunate to sign up Steve Edmonds instead, describing the Slapton Nature Reserve; this was a first-rate talk from a real enthusiast! In December, Dartmouth's well-known hotel proprietor, Nigel Way, took us through his 'Life behind Bars' -- from trainee in London to owner of the Royal Castle Hotel. This fascinating and amusing talk drew a record audience (of around 120) and was extremely well received. For our January meeting we booked Gordon Waterhouse once again for one of his well-known wildlife talks, this time on the Salcombe/Kingsbridge estuary; as usual this was accompanied by some amusing recollections and beautiful photographs by Bryan Ashby.
Our traditional Winter Market Day Lunch, held at the end of January, seems to be a popular fixture on the social calendar, with 73 members attending this year. The Royal Castle Hotel was again the setting for this most enjoyable occasion.
Our Open Forum meeting on 19th February 2008 tackled the very topical subject of climate change. We focused on the potential local impacts and invited speakers from Devon County Council, the Environment Agency and South West Water to introduce the discussion. This provided an excellent foundation for a most interesting debate, attended by over 100 people. The speakers emphasised the very significant climate changes which experts are expecting during this century, but also noted the uncertainties inherent in the scientific projections. The main specific concern during the debate concerned the risk of flooding in Dartmouth and Kingswear; previous work has of course been done on this, but the Environment Agency is intending further studies in the medium term. We will be seeking additional information on this.
Our next event will of course be the Annual General Meeting to be held on Tuesday 18th March, which will be followed by a talk by Ray Bridges, Chairman of the Flavel Centre Trust, giving 'The Flavel Story'. All members are strongly encouraged to come along, as the meeting provides an opportunity for feedback to the Committee and airing ideas on strategy and future activities.
For the Spring Outing on 30th May we have arranged a river trip on the Salcombe Estuary with a wildlife commentary by Gordon Waterhouse; we will start and finish in Kingsbridge with a stop for lunch in Salcombe. This should be a very interesting opportunity to hear and acknowledged expert on his home territory! Finally we will end the season on Friday 27th June with a Summer party at the Stoke Lodge Hotel in Stoke Fleming. Booking slips for these two events will be sent to members in April and we will be accepting early reservations for the Spring Outing on the evening of the AGM.
Our Planning Sub-committee, led by Paul Moynagh, continues to monitor an ever increasing number of Planning Applications, 507 in the past year, 23% more than in 2006. Reviewed by our monthly Committee meeting, the Society decided to write 91 letters of comment or objection to South Hams District Council. Of these the Council granted 49 applications, 33 were refused planning permission or withdrawn by the applicant and 9 are yet to be decided. An increasing number are revised applications, submitted after earlier refusal or following withdrawal by the applicant because of criticism. We are particularly concerned about a rising number of 'retrospective' planning applications made after works are constructed without permission, 33 last year. Almost all are granted permission and we feel some local developers may be exploiting an apparent reluctance of the Council to enforce planning regulations.
New Central Government guidance has weakened the Council's ability to impose sufficient off-street parking for new developments, especially in the centre of Dartmouth. Similarly, there is intense pressure to build new houses on so-called 'brownfield' sites, which include gardens, and as a consequence Dartmouth and our villages are becoming more densely developed, even though most are destined to be expensive and often 'second' homes, which does not help towards supplying the low cost housing for young people which our area sadly lacks. The Council is in the final stages of deciding its Affordable Housing policy through the new Local Development Framework planning process, in which 50% of all new homes should be 'affordable'. The Society supports this policy but has reservations about the ability of the Council to enforce it.
We carefully considered the proposed siting of the RNLI's Inshore Lifeboat facility on Coronation Park, given our strong support for a lifeboat but strong opposition to any permanent parking on this important green space. We decided to support the application on the basis that it was for a temporary facility, noting that all options should be considered for a permanent location. SHDC approved the application for a limited period of 5 years, and we are very pleased that the lifeboat is now fully operational.
Plans are in hand for a major housing redevelopment at the industrial site in Collingwood Road in Townstal, which would include a care home for about 70 people. We were consulted on this and commented accordingly, focusing on employment issues and the relationship between industrial and residential activities in this area.
SHDC continues to work on the new planning framework to replace the last Local Plan (confirmed 1996). Additional documents to the adopted Core Strategy have been issued for consultation from time to time and we comment where appropriate. Following last year's Open Forum on the LDF we had a useful meeting with a senior SHDC officer and pressed the case for the specific plan for Dartmouth to be accelerated. The Council did decide to give this slightly higher priority but we were very disappointed to learn that the plan is not schedules to be finally adopted until mid-2011. SHDC, in conjunction with Dartmouth Town Council, initiated a 'Public Space Strategy' for Dartmouth in September as part of the LDF process. The Society offered to join a suggested working group on this important issue and awaits developments.
The MCTi initiative for Dartmouth & District continued to act as an umbrella for a number of individual projects, although some of these are now running independently. We still have a representative on the Steering Committee and the D & K Committee members continue to serve on some of the projects. The Landscape Access Group has been notably active. Further development the Dartmouth Old Market was under review during the year but the Town Council concluded it would not support any major works.
Parking problems in Dartmouth continue to attract much attention. We were asked in June to comment on a study report by Devon County Council; later in the year D & K representatives attended meetings to discuss various proposals, including those under an MCTi banner. Dartmouth Town Council now intends to set up a working group to review the whole situation, at which we will be represented; this will need to take into account recent changes ( such as the supermarkets' support for the Park-and-Ride) and the intended policies of SHDC and the County Council.
We were advised in the summer that SHDC intends to review the boundaries of the Conservation Areas in Dartmouth. We support the extension of the boundaries in certain instances and will be preparing a submission to the Council, but we understand the review is now on hold.
Under a new initiative the Dartmouth Chamber of Trade has been seeking closer links with local organisations and has invited the D & K to attend its meetings in an associate capacity. We accepted this offer and are happy to support the Chamber on aspects where our interests align.
Proposed re-development of the Noss Shipyard has been regularly in the news over the last year. The owners undertook a public consultation exercise in September which highlighted some key proposals, including a marine academy, marine industries, a hotel and some 70 houses. However, there was very little information on works in the river (such as extension of the marina) and Dart Harbour & Navigation Authority (DHNA) have recently voiced concerns on this aspect. Detailed plans for the marine academy, as part of South Devon College, have now been announced; this will be a very welcome feature of any redevelopment. We continue to monitor the whole situation closely and will take any action when appropriate.
In view of the importance of the river in the local environment, we recently sought closer contacts with DHNA and were subsequently invited to join their Non-Beneficiary Users Group. This is largely made up of local council representatives and forms a useful channel for consultation.
During the autumn we were concerned at SHDC's proposals to make substantial changes to the charges on the lower car ferry (including a 50% increase in the concession ticket prices). The proposals seemed to be driven entirely by profitability with no real thought as to the effect on the community. Our efforts were partly rewarded when we learned that the concession increase had be held to 'only' 20%. Previous threats to the level of service on the Dartmouth-Kingswear Passenger Ferry seem to be currently in abeyance.
Peter Shaw has taken over responsibility for both publicity and publications and is building on the sterling work of his predecessors. We continue to make strenuous efforts to keep the Society's activities in the public eye, and are currently reviewing what more might be done in this regard. As part of this effort we will produce a single-sheet summary of the Society and its activities, for issue to members as well as media contacts and other organisation.
Our publication list was strengthened in June by issue of a completely new edition of our Brief Historical Guide to Dartmouth, produced by Eric Preston and Peter Shaw. This has been a great success and has already sold over 140 copies. Sales of other booklets continue to do well.
At the last AGM the entire Committee volunteered to continue in the existing roles for 2007-2008. Doug Twigg and John Dingle are serving as Chairman and Vice-Chairman respectively, with John Baldock as Secretary, Paul Moynagh and Alan Smart have continued in their roles of Planning Secretary and Treasurer respectively. Liane Baldock (our Events Secretary), Peter Batterley, Bob Bentley, Phil Charlesworth, Griselda Guthrie and Bill Sanderson were elected as general members of the Committee. However, during the year, we have had to say goodbye to Bob Bentley, who has recently resigned due to ill-health, and to Peter Batterley and Bill Sanderson, who have both moved to other parts of the country; we wish them all well and thank them for their efforts over the years. In their place we were pleased to be able to co-opt Peter Shaw, Nick Wood and Tessa de Galleani.
Everyone on the Committee has contributed their own particular skills and effort to a successful programme of activities and events and all deserve the thanks of the members for their continuing hard work.
Sir Geoffrey Newman remains our President and Eric Preston our Vice-President, and we are very grateful for their continuing support. Alan Smart has indicated that he wishes to stand down as Treasurer and we are pleased to say that Gill Rowe, one of our members, has offered to take on this position. We wish to thank Alan for all his hard work in this crucial post. All other Officers and Committee members are willing to continue in their roles for the coming year, although Paul Moynagh would be very pleased if a new candidate for Planning Secretary could be found. Nominations for consideration at the AGM are therefore: Doug Twigg as Chairman; John Dingle as Vice-Chairman; John Baldock as Hon. Secretary; Paul Moynagh as Hon. Planning Secretary; Gill Rowe as Hon. Treasurer; together with Liane Baldock, Phil Charlesworth, Tessa de Galleani, Griselda Guthrie, Peter Shaw and Nick Wood as general members.
It will be clear from this report that the Committee has more than enough work to do and would appreciate some help. If you would like to be involved in the work of the Society, please approach one of us; we can co-opt new members at any time. We are particularly keen to recruit new Committee members from Dittisham and Blackawton, to give a wider geographic spread.
A detailed financial statement forms a separate part of the papers for the AGM and shows that we recorded a small deficit for the year (of £170). However, it needs to be remembered that our major donation of £1000 to the St. Barnabas Centre is included in these account although it was decided in 2006. The results can therefore be regarded as satisfactory, particularly since we incurred the full costs of printing our new publication. Other notable aspects are the strong increase in publication sales revenue, the donation to the RNLI lifeboat and the increase in the costs of meetings ( as anticipated). As always, we are grateful for the efforts of the Committee and the generosity of members in raising funds in various ways, and for generous donations from some Life Members.
We continued with our programme of making a significant donation each year to charitable causes with local objectives which align with our own aims. The donation for the St. Barnabas Centre was given to support 'Learning for Life' in re-furbishing the building and setting up a youth housing/training centre; opening of the Centre was unfortunately delayed on account of the need for further funding but work has now restarted and the Centre is expected to open in June. In 2007 we gave £500 to the RNLI's campaign to install an inshore lifeboat and lifeboat station in Dartmouth (noted above). We believe that it would be useful to establish and overall policy to guide decisions of future donations and would welcome comments from members on this point.
We have again been able to recruit a good number of new members during the year, comfortably exceeding the inevitable loss of members, and our total membership now amounts to 429. We are keen to continue this trend and all existing members are encouraged to recruit as many friends as possible to Join the Society.
Doug Twigg, Chairman
February 2008