I thought I would wait and see what responses there were in last week’s Gazette to avoid possible duplication of ideas.

I am so glad I did. What a great, well thought out and imaginative response from Rolf Burnie, of Thurlestone.

South Hams District Council would do well to incorporate his thoughts into its master plan. Although I am worried about siting the TIC in the centre of a roundabout.

There are several big issues here, not least of which is parking, which council officer Chris Brook attempted to gloss over by talking about better management. In such a geographically scattered area as this, with very limited public transport and a large tourism influx, the car is vital, it is not good enough to say we are only losing 57 or so spaces while at the same time seeking to build a similar number of apartments.

It was stated at the public meeting, brilliantly, and fairly chaired by our town mayor Chris Povey, “that under ground parking was unlikely due to potential flooding” and that the cattle market site could only be used for parking.

Then why not build on that site a car park with one level underground, another level as existing then one or even two levels above, making it the towns main car park, thus increasing rather than losing car park spaces – visually shielded from view by the sports centre – with pay on exit for the parking time used.

This would then free up most of the quay for recreational use by locals and visitors, without loss of essential parking, leaving a small area near the town square for disabled use.

As Mr Burnie said, the proposed scheme leads to a substantial profit to the council with little, and inconsequential benefits to the town, unless you count a block of mainly holiday homes on an area with enormous potential for improvement for recreational use as a benefit.

I would urge local residents to rise and make their views known to avoid this being steamrollered through. The town council is clearly doing its best to make sure it gets what is best for the town. Let’s give them our support.

Peter Betteridge

The Keeve

Kingsbridge