One of Devon’s best kept secrets

One of Devon’s best kept secrets has to be Paignton Harbour! That never ceases to amaze me. I am also regularly amazed by the number of local people who don’t know that Paignton has a harbour. When you have such a wonderful resource that has for so many years been underused then you really must start scratching your head. The lovely little harbour has its own quiet beach that is dog friendly throughout the year. How nice is that!

Oddly enough the harbour used to be a hub of activity but so much of that has changed. But why is that? The Rowing Club and Sailing Club both still attract good numbers. The Sea Scouts still bob around on the water and yet all is not the same.

One major change has been the arrival of numerous signs, street furniture and regulations telling people what they cannot do! Where else would you find a large board displaying all the local bye laws? Where else would you find wires spread around the harbour walls to stop folk fishing? Torbay Council really must think what they want here because the messages seem confused.

In my opinion the quaint little harbour could be the very thing to make Paignton the place to visit. Using this wonderful place as a ‘honeypot’ destination might be that essential ingredient that we attempt to breathe new life into the local economy!

People love food and the growth of fish restaurants has been phenomenal recently. Paignton Harbour already has a number of wonderful restaurants and eateries in addition to shellfish merchants. Did you know that you can buy fresh lobster here? 

We can build upon this with fish festivals and other events that will bring thousands flooding to Paignton. I can almost smell the wonderful aroma of a giant pan full of bubbling paella being cooked in the open air on the harbourside! 

Celebrate Paignton Harbour – you know it makes sense!

I wrote the words for the free Mini Herald Express newspaper recently. Just to add to the frustration I would like to add two other little points.

The first is that, due to a misunderstanding, Paignton Harbour is outside the Paignton BID (business improvement district) area. This beautiful little harbour is therefore only mentioned in passing and yet it is, as I have already said, a natural hub or if you like a tourist honey pot. The Paignton BID folk recently punted the possibility of statues around the town. I immediately thought of Ilfracombe and Damian Hurst's Verity standing proud over their harbour. It attracts thousands.

Then to rub salt into the wound Torbay Council have appointed a parking control company to extract revenue from hapless motorists. You can debate the sense of that policy but what really gets my goat is the fact that the signs say that the harbour is private property! That is simply silliness and will frighten visitors away.

With one hand we talk about regeneration and with the other we find ways of scaring folk away.

Let's give hope on jobs to young

My column in the Herald Express 9th January 2014

Ah Pandora’s Box! Do you know the story? Having been told not to open the box Pandora simply had to see what was hidden. Once open all the nasty things now in the world jumped out. In these curious times it is worth remembering that the last thing left in the box (or jar) was the Spirit of Hope. As we travel through 2014 it is so important that hope dominates all that we do. Hoping for a better world and a stronger future has to be something that will work for the greater good of all.

With that in mind I was saddened by the results of research commissioned by the Prince’s Trust that indicated that hope was in danger amongst the young. It seems that a third of all young people either suffer from or at risk of suffering from depression. That has to be a worry for all of us. It certainly worries me, which regular readers will know. What is also a worry is the number of suicides amongst the young. That cannot be right in any society. Yet given the poor prospects for so many young folk you can start to understand how quickly hope ebbs away.

Think about the young graduate after battling through A Level studies followed by a degree before sadly catapulting into a depleted job market. After all that study finding yourself dressed up as a giant chicken promoting a fast food outlet doesn’t do much for self-esteem! I’m positively ancient now but years ago when I left college getting a job was the natural outcome. It tended also to be a job that reflected all the hard work. The old style apprenticeship was also a recognised way to a secure future.

We keep banging on about apprenticeships today for our young folk, but as Vince Cable confirmed, it is a big ask when the hourly rate is usually £2.68 an hour. This is something that the government is thinking about apparently and I hope that the outcome is a more motivational starting rate.  But there is no doubt that if we want to energise the next generation then jobs must be found because being valued does so much for self-esteem. To come home after a day at work with money to buy the things you need should be a self-evident platform for any community.

Learning new skills to carve a career path will without doubt build the hope for a meaningful future. So many good people, including the Prince’s Trust, are doing their best to make people aware of this. To take away hope is a dangerous thing. I’ve said this before and I plan to carry on banging the proverbial drum!

The thing is that a lack of employment means that more and more people are being forced into poverty. The cold weather amplifies that point as we all struggle to pay spiralling utility bills! Being cold isn’t much fun and being constantly anxious about finding the money to pay for fuel simply compounds a feeling of misery.  We can’t just shrug our shoulders and say it’s the way it is!

Justin Welby is the new Archbishop of Canterbury and his New Year Message for me was a breath of fresh air. His thrust was the need to tackle poverty in our own communities. Oh yes, we do have poverty in Torbay! Hearing someone like Justin Welby publicly make that statement at the start of 2014 was an inspiration. If you have the time please do find it on the Internet because it is, in my humble opinion, worth a listen. If you also have the time please do take a look around and see whether you can help those too near the edge in our own community.

There is one more other thing that I wanted to say in this column and that is to do with the progress at Oldway Mansion, or more accurately the lack of progress. In a previous column I had said that Torbay Council must be pleased that this rickety building is off their hands. I light-heartedly then said that at least I think that it is off their hands! It seems that the lease has still to be agreed but there is hope that will happen later this year. That’s something to look forward to. Meanwhile it will be another summer without tennis at Oldway which is a shame. I gather that the tea room has also closed and that was the only access for tourists to the stunning entrance area of Oldway Mansion.  Local tennis star Sue Barker has been flying the flag for Cockington and it occurs to me that it would be rather nice if we could get her support for tennis in Paignton in this post Murray Wimbledon win season.

It is a shame that we didn’t manage to get a summer of 2013 and 2014 out of the Oldway Mansion tennis courts but there you go. Doubtless the tennis coach who once had a vibrant business there might have a view. We do have other courts in the town but the loss of ten or more courts is a big hit locally. I should add that I don’t play tennis and this isn’t a personal agenda!

Keep the smile.