PLANS for a giant new hotel and leisure complex in a picturesque seaside town have been blasted by residents who claim it will block their views and throw their beach into near permanent darkness.
Incensed locals in Brixham, Devon compared plans for a multi-coloured 44-bed hotel, spa and beach-side bistro to the fictional village setting of children’s TV show Balamory.
Developers want to demolish an existing bistro and use a beachside public car park to build the five-storey development directly facing the Breakwater Beach.
But locals claim if the building goes ahead it will cast a shadow over the Blue Flag beach for 80 per cent of the day and make it harder for older and disabled residents to enjoy the beach.
Retiree Paul Ward, 71, said: “I was born and bred here. It’s a beautiful beach and the only beach in Brixham with a car park, so people who are disabled wouldn’t be able to get down here.
“The drawings I have seen online are absolutely ridiculous.
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“I have no problem with people updating their business or property but that is overdevelopment.
“Somebody said the design is taken from houses in Brixham, but I’ve lived here all my life and I’ve never seen any houses like that.
“It’s just ridiculous, it will cut out the view from the road. It's appalling.
“What is the point of having a beach if it’s not in the sun? I don’t think it’s been thought through and I think it’s all to do with money.
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16“I think locals are up for a fight – everybody feels the same, it’s just terrible. The plan is ridiculous for the area.”
Last month hundreds of residents turned out to view plans for a scheme which developers say will see £30million of investment in the area.
But insiders said many visitors voiced serious concerns about the development, while more than 3,000 joined an online group protesting the proposal which some described as "Balamory on steroids".
Jonathan Ling-Cottey, 55, an architect from Brixham who attended an initial consultation, said: “What we saw was fairly shocking in terms of scale, design, layout and the fact it’s going to overshadow the whole of the beach and dominate the skyline.
“With a five-storey building the beach is going to disappear and be in shade for 80 per cent of the day.
“It’s potentially a massive loss for the area which is why people feel so strongly about it.”
Locals say the beach is steeped in history and was formerly the site of a major shipbuilder.
It also played a significant role in the D-Day landings during World War II with 2,500 US infantry and 32 tanks boarding boats from the neighbouring breakwater in 1944 bound for Utah Beach.
Jason Dart, 58, a lifelong Brixham resident whose grandfather worked on the boat yard that previously occupied the site, said: “This is the only town beach we have.
“It is everything to us really. If you want to come for a swim this is the place you come to.
“I am totally against the plan because it is the wrong development for this particular site.
“It’s massive and it’s going to shade the beach and ruin the enjoyment for people.
“You can have a free day out here, you don’t have to pay to do anything. It is people’s beach, and that’s how it should be.
“The development will take away the soul of the place, it won’t be the town beach when you are overshadowed by a big development like this.”
Dog walker Jackie Stockman said: “You only have to take a look around to see how beautiful the site is, but it’s very sensitive.
“The shadowing is really bad but also a lot of young people use this beach and if you’ve got people overlooking from apartments or hotel rooms onto a beach where a lot of young people are I think they would feel very nervous of being there.
“There are lots of things that make this special, it is the only beach in Brixham that is accessible and it has been used for generations.
"I know they say there will still be access but if you look at how and where it is changing the whole site totally.
“Brixham has evolved over the years so I don’t think you can say we are against any development but it has to be done in a sensitive manner that keeps the essential character of Brixham.”
The development will take away the soul of the place, it won’t be the town beach when you are overshadowed by a big development like this
Gill Brady, 75, said: “It came as a bolt out of the blue. We all have happy memories of the beach.
"All through Covid this beach was the place for your exercise.
"To think a big development suddenly popping up and blocking the sun is beyond belief.
“I think it’s totally out of keeping with Brixham. We pride ourselves in our beautiful little town and to suddenly get apartments on stilts is totally out of keeping and quite bizarre.
“The thought of the build which will take two years with construction vehicles coming along very narrow roads is going to cause mayhem.”
The beach is also popular with scuba divers including Derek Boustred, 71, who has been diving from the beach for 50 years.
He said: “This car park is really important to us and if it is lost it will affect a lot of people.
“We have very limited sites in the area and this is a very good one.
“We regularly come down with 15 guys, the facilities are very good with toilets and a nice cafe and it’s a nice sheltered part. We can dive here even when we can’t dive anywhere else.
"The car park is a huge benefit when carrying heavy equipment down to the beach and it would be a huge loss.
“We train all our novice divers here because it’s a very safe place to dive from.”
Some in the town are backing the plan, including John Hadley, who said: "It is understandable that people may be apprehensive and so it goes without saying that proper due diligence must be carried out.
"If it is and the appropriate finances are in place and the plans approved, then these proposals could be welcoming news for Brixham, particularly with tourism now being the main industry in the town and there being a lack of hotels.
"Yes, there will be the usual naysayers and doom merchants who point blank refuse to support any proposals that would see the town prosper.
"I believe this is a good proposal by someone who has already invested in the town and who lives locally."
The development is proposed by Brixham Mortar Limited, led by property developer Jack Turton who played a leading role in delivering the Eden Project in Cornwall and the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth.
Mr Turton said: “I don’t think it’s going to be anything like [Balamory] to be honest.
“What we have looked at is Brixham the town and how it is set out. Then we have taken that and tried to put it into the Breakwater and make it as soft as we can, but it’s obviously difficult because it’s not a massive site and we are trying to get a lot into it.
“We are of course listening to these concerns. That’s why we put the consultation in.
“Some people run off like hares with the wrong idea and saying things like we’re closing the beach, we’re not.
“People have jumped on the bandwagon thinking we are building on the beach; the only place we were building was to the left of the bistro and we are looking at taking that off.
“We are looking at what shading there is. This is just a public consultation, it’s not set in stone.
“It’s a public consultation for the public to see what sort of things they would want and how it all fits in with the rest of the bay.
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“The car park isn’t an amenity, it’s got a bunch of cars taking up space and what I want to do is give that amenity back to the people.
“I am doing a deal with a neighbouring car park which is currently under used and has larger spaces – I don’t think it will be less convenient for anybody.”
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