I think, from feedback after the public meeting about the quay development proposals in St Edmund’s Church, Kingsb­ridge, conversations with locals and my visit to the library to discuss the proposals with the consultants, very few people want this scheme, or anything like it.

It is not that we want the town to be frozen in time or a case of nimbyism – the scheme is just wrong.

The wrong buildings in the wrong place. Tall, prominent buildings in the most sensitive place, completely inappropriate to the character of the town.

The commercial functions are in the wrong place too and would only draw people and trade from Fore Street. Existing businesses are struggling as it is. How many more coffee drinking opportunities does a town need?

The Tesco development took valuable long-stay parking away from Fore Street and people working in town – surely we do not want to lose more do we?

The revised road  layout looks like a return to the time before the roundabout was installed and we remember the anarchy then, when the traffic was a lot lighter and vehicles were smaller. And exactly where is the bus and taxi parking to be relocated?

The slipway, which is an asset presently, would be reduced to a gesture, inadequate for the number of people  wanting to use it.

The term ‘affordable housing’ now has a hollow ring to it, to young people on local incomes, and has become a ‘sprat to catch a mackerel’ for developers seeking planning permissions for the more lucrative parts of their investments.

I could go on, it is not difficult to find fault with this scheme but, more to the point, at a time of austerity, when essential services are being cut and we have to pay to use the public convenience, from where has the £100,000 been magically found to fund just the feasibility study?

Surely it would have been better to ask the people of Kingsbridge what they want the money to be spent on before incurring the cost?

In my opinion, proper maintenance of the existing roads, pavements and open spaces would have been more appropriate expenditure.

So where is the money coming from to implement the scheme? There is a smell to this proposal and it is not a pleasant one.

If South Hams District Council is genuine about public consultation, it will realise it is not wanted.

Leave our town alone or ask before wasting any more money on further white elephants.

Philip Tedstone

Higher Warren Road, Kingsbridge