A new campaign group, the Save Bantham Coalition has been formed to “protect the natural beauty of Bantham and the surrounding areas”.

The group is operating under the umbrella of the South Hams Society, and follows significant strength of feeling expressed by both locals and visitors against any development of the estate.

An online petition, started a month ago, has now attracted almost 10,000 signatures, calling on South Hams District Council to “stop the proposed development of Bantham village and beach”.

The petition was started in response to new owner, Nicholas Johnston’s plans for the estate, presented to Thurlestone Parish Council in February. These included new housing, a beach club and an underground car park.

At the time, a spokesman for Mr Johnston claimed Thurlestone Parish Council requested Mr Johnston to draw up the plans in response to the housing needs survey. But the parish council disputed this.

The coalition has listed four reasons why Bantham is important and needs protecting: “That it is a national treasure valued by thousands, visited by people from all over the country and overseas, often for generation after generation.

“It is beautiful, unspoilt and protected and an outstandingly beautiful part of the South Hams.

“It is a world class beach that appeals to all, providing relaxation and leisure activities for families, surfers and other water sports participants, boat users, walkers, fishermen, birdwatchers and photographers.

“And individuals’ joy creates local employment and income - tourism is not only about the joy our visitors experience, but it is arguably the largest part of the private sector local economy, when considering its contribution to food and drink, retail, boating services and construction work on holiday homes.”

On behalf of the Save Bantham Coalition, Nick Cotter said: “Generations of the same families have visited Bantham because it is un-spoilt and peaceful, which is sadly all too increasingly rare these days.

“The visitors to Bantham, not only come from the immediate locality and across South Devon, but also from the rest of the country and overseas. It is a unique stretch of coastline that attracts young and old, families, groups of friends, walkers, surfers and kite surfers, canoeists, other boat users, bird watchers, those interested in our special wildlife, including rare plants, fishermen, photographers and artists.”

Mr Cotter said the coalition is now “seeking skills, knowledge, and ‘boots on the ground’ from the community who have already protested.

“We will be setting up crowd-funding to help finance the fight against this unacceptable change to our unspoilt coastline.”

Nicholas Johnston hadn’t responded to our request for a comment at the time of going to press.

For further information, the Bantham Estate website can be found at www.banthamdevon.co.uk. The Save Bantham Coalition website is www.savebantham.uk.