A funny thing happened to me on the way to the Forum

A week ago I attended a meeting of Torbay Council’s Harbour Committee at a freezing cold Oldway Mansion in Paignton. There was only one item on the agenda and that was a recommendation by council officers not to renew the lease for a bit of land outside the crab factory.

Now you may raise an eyebrow as to why a committee might need to meet for something that appears inconsequential. This bit of land had been leased to the crab factory for loading and unloading of vehicles but back in 2009 the Council allowed the temporary placing of a forty-foot container on that very spot. The temporary period has now been extended twice and the Council had decided that enough was enough since the permission had been temporary and the harbour is a conservation area.

The container houses folk killing crab and was to be there for a short while until that part of the business could be resumed at the main factory which had been destroyed on 4th November 2008 by fire. Sadly the company found the insurance money insufficient and find themselves somewhat stuck.

Of course by accommodating the forty-foot container on the slip of land the trucks had used to load and unload vehicles now do that on the road which is blockeing access both to the East Quay and Fairy Cove beach. It also essentially made that end of the harbour into an open air crab processing factory.

Despite the recommendation of the council officers the elected councillors have voted to allow the rusty container to stay in this conservation area for at least another year. That is indeed good news for the multi-national workforce but less so for the beleaguered tourist industry, other harbour users and folk heading for the picturesque Fairy Cove beach.

But the democratic process has been satisfied and we now look forward to the summer season 2013 and of council officers attempting to regulate a situation that is causing them serious concern.