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.

Don’t lose the thrill of it all…………………

My words in the Lifestylesouthdevon web mag today...

It’s that moment of decision when you leave that high place and launch yourself out over the sparkling sea. That moment when your stomach adjusts to the fall as you drop through the air like a stone feet first, into the deep clear blue water. The spectacular splash and the sudden rush of bubbles as you sink and slowly stop sinking. The exhilaration of shooting back up to the surface, the taste of salt water and the blinding sunlight of a hot summer day! The sheer unadulterated joy of it all as you swim to join your third age coasteering group scrambling over rocks and then splashing back into the restless sea. This is South Devon, the home of so many coastal adventures. Don’t just walk the walk and talk the talk – come and live the life.

Just spend a brief moment looking at some of the adventures that might await you and remember this is only a few that spring immediately to mind. Here we go. Fishing, climbing, abseiling, coasteering, kayaking, canoeing, windsurfing, surfing, kite surfing, paddle boarding, body boarding, scuba, snorkelling, sea swimming, yachting, dinghy sailing, motor boating, cruising, water skiing, wake boarding, gig rowing, sculling, rock hopping or simply bobbing about on a paddle boat!

Yet today so many older people miss the opportunity and simply sit at home looking like a couch potato whilst twiddling thumbs in cyberspace! For goodness sake find the off switch and press it! Get up, get out there and live the reality of an outdoor life rather than existing in the virtual. You know it makes sense! This is not the time to sit back and let life slip past.


Let me tell you a little story about living the life. Years ago we opened the Harbour Sports Windsurfing School in Paignton and taught thousands of people to ‘do it standing up’!! It was a time when people seemed to be in the same place and you could throw a hat over a bunch of folk and know that they were connected. I loved the job and enjoyed almost every minute. We even had a bunch of Richard Branson’s Virgin girls to get windsurfing. Where else would you get half a dozen lovely girls, dress them in rubber suits, take them out to sea and spend two hours dunking them up and down in cold water whilst being paid? I’m sure that these days there is probably medication for that sort of thing! But times change and now the windsurfing school is no more. It is also worth pointing out that one of our most enthusiastic windsurfers was a seventy year old retired doctor who had his birthday cake delivered, complete with candles, by a passing boat!

Having said all that one of the good things about the cyber world is good old Google. So here you are in South Devon and want to come and play. Just stick in the search box your chosen fun thing plus the word Devon and see what pops up. You can add more searches by changing the word order. How easy is that? Pop up a map of South Devon whilst you are at and before is the most fantastic coastline from Sidmouth to Plymouth. Estuaries, beaches, rocky headlands, wooded river banks, deep rock pools, shingle banks, sand spits and much more all on one truly magnificent coastline. What a great place to live and play.

Too often I hear the comment that all this is only for the wealthy. That can’t be further from the truth. Just to prove that you are alive simply strip off and splash in the shallows. Cost zero! Cold? Not really but to be a little warmer only requires a basic wetsuit. Found a wave? The dig out an old boogie board and feel the energy of the ocean. Too old for all that stuff? Not at all! Here’s something to think about for the summer. At Harbour Sports we have been experimenting with, for want of better words, geriatric coasteering! Perhaps geriatric is slightly over egging it, but it is the thrill of coastal rock hopping for older folk. They say if you are living on the edge then you are taking up too much space. Come and test the theory.

Picture this; it’s early morning and the tide is on the turn. Early mist skips across the River Dart as you lower your sit on double kayak on to the water. The air is so fresh and the day already war and you know this is your time and place. Gentle paddling brings you past Sharpham and the only noise is raw nature. As you reach Galmpton the calm water mirrors the sky as the sounds of the waking world drift across the river. Perhaps your Nirvana is an early summer morning kayak on the timeless Dart.

Whilst you paddle early morning surfers are already riding waves at Bantham and the surf school has yet another class pushing through the restless water. In the distance windsurfers and kite surfers leap from wave to wave sending spray high into the air. Multi coloured kites catch the bright morning sun pursued by screaming gulls.

Not far away in nearby Salcombe a dive boat pushes past Bolt Head and motors for one of the numerous wrecks dotted up and down the coast. On Paignton harbour another group of novice divers climb into drysuits under the eye of the experienced Nautique dive master. Meanwhile powerful ski boats pull skiers and wakeboarders in and out of Elbury Cove watched by numerous coastal walkers enjoying freedom of the South Devon Coastal Path.

As an endless procession of yachts head out to sea in search of adventure the tall ship Stavros edges toward Brixham harbour with its crew manning the spars high above the deck rapidly rolling sails. Tall ship sailing is ageless and you don’t have to climb if you don’t want to! Don’t want the commitment of a voyage? The simply book a one day trip. How easy is that?

There you have it! We have some of the most magnificent coastlines in the packed from end to end with adventures to suit all ages and almost every pocket. The next person to tell me that there is nothing to do around here I am likely to slap around the face with a smoked kipper! All it takes is a leap of faith (which might be off a rock into the sea!) to add spice to your life in ways that you might only have imagined.

Start tomorrow by simply taking a handful if sea water and splash it in your face and celebrate the joy of being alive.

Live the life and keep the smile!

The English Riviera: It Will Take More Than A Paint Brush And Potted Plants

We live in interesting times where change is so rapid that it too often leaves us gasping for breath. Perhaps the most evident change has been in the traditional high street and neighbourhood shopping venues. Ah, you might say, that is simply natural change! But sadly it is much more than that, much more indeed.

 



Watching Mary Portas and David Cameron visiting beleaguered high streets made me want to weep. As an increasing number of high streets start to look like a dental disaster with gap after gap appearing and so the level of rhetoric builds as everyone seems to have a view.

We hear the clever words and look at initiatives like BID (Business Improvement Districts) hoping that each signals a new horizon. But you know you can do all you like about street furniture, colourful works of art, lovely flowers and yet sadly meekly accept high business rates, crippling rents and aggressive parking charges.

There has been a change of course where once vibrant businesses have been replaced by endless charity shops, transient pop up shops, betting shops, takeaways and second hand shops! That of course need not be a bad thing if that is what we all want. Perhaps we are happy enough to watch town centres change shape and celebrate the new curious landscape.

Is the new town centre the supermarket with free parking on the urban outskirts? If it is then why should we worry? Perhaps we should worry because who wants to run the risk of a hurtful parking fine from aggressive meter control policed by ever-vigilant civil enforcement officers whilst parking in town?

These are serious questions for any town but are actually hugely important here on The English Riviera. We live in a conurbation of three towns on perhaps one of the most stunningly beautiful coastlines in the world. We cannot allow our town centres to fall over and take with the tourist industry! Whilst much of tourism becomes a product of wall to wall sunshine our visitors need to be captivated by the shopping experience, whether it is simply buying and ice cream, interesting food or colourful clothing. It’s not that complicated is it!

So if we want to make folk celebrate the coastal urban experience then serious work needs to done about the economic infrastructure. It would be newsworthy to have Mrs Portas and Mr Cameron striding down Torbay Road as a call to action, but part of that action has to be a serious look at those basic business costs dominated by rates and rents. For me those two should underpin any sort of business improvement scheme!

Getting folk into town centres also requires a willingness to make motorists feel wanted. If we accept that the out of town supermarkets might have become the new town centres with easy parking then the obvious question has to be asked about car access in the, if you like, old town centres.

Banging on about the tourist offering and then frightening visitors (and residents!) with an army of parking attendants waiting to leap upon luckless motorists who overstay their allotted times is, in my opinion, imbecilic! You either want to welcome folk or you don’t. Seeing the motorist visiting the town centre as a target for increased civic income has to be ultimately very damaging. Watching visitors argue with the meter man having arrived back a few minutes too late will not do much for the tourism offing does it?

Torbay is the most wonderful place with a coastline that is simply mouth-watering with lovely harbours dotted around the waters edge. Certainly something that we all need to celebrate and encourage in any way that we can, but the worry is that poorly thought through policy coupled with expensive charges will let to obvious rot develop.

It will take more than a paintbrush and potted plants to bring new life to the English Riviera! Although not in the way Mr Cameron intended, we are all in this together and must not let community apathy get too tight a grip. Rattle the cage and seek for a change in town centre development that is something more than the endless empty rhetoric! Get hold of the decision makers and state the obvious. Too much is still being taken form too many by too few. Let’s get it right and let it start now.

We can make a difference in 2013



Words from my Herald Express column 10th January 2013....

I DIDN’T send any Christmas cards this year which, sadly, is a first. To be quite honest, I simply didn’t have the appetite for that lengthy process as I tend to hand write a few paragraphs in each.
Times have changed and the once yearly contact has been usurped by regular Facebook posting, blogs and numerous other cyberspace community platforms.

But it was more than that.

Watching my business washed away by the ‘tsunami’ of economic change that left much of the independent retail sector also in tatters was a little too soul destroying for enthusiastic script.
You can be as good as you like in the micro (the local economy) but if the macro (the wider international market place) is shattered then the fight is somewhat hopeless. It is interesting to note that one of my city centre shops is now occupied by a charity. That, I guess, is part of the new town centre trading topography as charity shops, second-hand shops, takeaways and betting shops take centre stage while supermarkets suck the spending horde to the suburban outskirts leaving a trail of broken independent traders.

Mind you, since that personal disaster we’ve managed to start trading again from Paignton harbour as a partnership but the road is bumpy and the future somewhat uncertain. A curious tapestry offering new challenges!

So, instead of a Christmas card, I did send out a brief seasonal blog to friends in cyberspace (www.franksobey.blogspot.com) commenting on some of the fantastic highs — three wonderful weddings and an exciting engagement — and stomach-dropping lows — 30-plus years of business falling over. Not quite the same as writing numerous tactile cards with an inky pen and sticking costly stamps of personally addressed envelopes but there you go! At least those that did get my cards in previous years don’t have to spend hours deciphering my spiderlike dysfunctional handwriting.

Shortly before Christmas I happened to bump into mayor Gordon Oliver at a lunchtime gathering at the house of a friend. He sounded very upbeat about 2013 for Torbay. Certainly the thrust of his conversation seemed to be about job creation through new businesses centred on the industrial estates while not losing sight of our huge tourist economy. There is huge debate about the role of a mayor but, like it or not, he is the man with the power locally which is something Torbay voted for.

Also at the lunchtime gathering was the head of a local hotel trade association. We both slumped when our conversation reached the summer weather for the past five years! You can do what you like in a tourist resort to generate business but if the sun doesn’t shine we all suffer. My own business was about summer fun, shorts, T-shirts, sunglasses, surf kit, outdoor toys and we did suffer. Ah yes, now comes the cry that we need things to do when it does rain. Yes, we do but that doesn’t take away that essential holiday ingredient of decent sunshine. My conversational friend in the hotel business said much the same thing, of course, which any intelligent individual not looking through rose tinted glasses would understand. The year 2012 was, without doubt, a very soggy period in our history and battling along Paignton beach with my dog through torrential rain on December 31 just about said it all.

During my conversation with our leader, I happened to touch upon Parkfield in Paignton.
Those of you who read my words from time to time will remember me waxing lyrical when the £4.8million youth facility opened last year near the Redcliffe Hotel on Paignton seafront.
He didn’t say too much but from my own research and comments from others, I do worry about the future of this brilliant facility. I gather the centre, which has a sports hall, cafe, music room in addition to an international standard BMX track and skatepark, is now closed on Sundays and Mondays. That is a worry since this has to be seen as an investment in the future of our young folk.
Sadly, it’s all very well having these new schemes but they must be sustainable. It is one thing stumping up the grant to get them going but quite another to fund the running on a daily basis. Hmm.

So here is a new year’s resolution for our community — keep your eyes open for the potentially damaging changes caused by local apathy. Look for the areas where you can help, speak out when you can see things happening that will work against the greater good, make the decision makers accountable and support those struggling to make a positive difference.

Don’t say it’s not your problem because that attitude allows the selfish to gain more at the expense of us all. We can make a difference and we must!

Anyway, happy new year and do keep the smile.

Parking charge increases? Meter Madness!

I've just driven around Torbay today visiting the town centres of Brixham, Paignton and Torquay. I've also been to visit all the out of town shopping centres.


Why?


Because I can see that one of the Torbay Council 2013 budget proposals is an increase in parking charges. Somewhere I noticed that Teignbridge is thinking about similar action in response to government funding grants are cut.

In the centre of the towns parking is charged. At the out of town shopping centres it is free. Do I want to nip in and grab a pasty at a local baker and pay a parking charge? Or shall I park for free and grab the pasty from a supermarket? Hmm. Not and even playing field.

Some years ago I seem to remember Mr Tony Blair and Lord Sainsbury talking about parking charges for out of town shopping centres to balance the community profile. That seems to have slipped quietly into history.

Time and time again we hear about the need to reenergise the town centres and make them visitor friendly. Endless parking meters and high car park charges for increased council revenue rather than traffic control is really like shooting yourself in the foot!

Madness.

It's your community. What do you want?