This is an open letter for Cllr J Tucker, leader of South Hams District Council, to request that he makes a public statement supporting unreservedly and wholeheartedly the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, its Partnership Committee, and its staff unit.

I ask this following the meeting of the Partnership Committee at Follaton House on March 17, where members of the District Council, and also those from Devon County Council and Torbay Council, were especially critical of positive proposals put forward by the South Hams’ amenity societies.

The South Hams Society, the Modbury Society, the Aune Conservation Association, and many other groups are jointly allowed only one representative on the Partnership Committee; this is currently Bob Harvey.

These groups have a common objective, which is the protection and enhancement of the AONB. This is also a strict legal duty of the officers and members of the SHDC, which incidentally has two representatives on the Partnership Committee.

Mr Harvey has been striving valiantly to raise the issue of the threat of inappropriate development in and around the AONB, organising well-attended meetings of local people who are passionately concerned about this growing problem.

On behalf of the amenity societies, Mr Harvey was encouraged to bring the issue back to this group – the December meeting of which was equally negative – in an attempt to gain approval for a package of measures aimed at giving the Partnership Committee “more teeth”, such as a greater role in planning casework, including the use of volunteers to assist the hard-pressed AONB officers.

During the meeting, the members referred to above did their best to denigrate the proposals, and demanded that the topic be concluded there and then, and not raised again.

There was a total aversion to the use of volunteers to help the AONB staff. It was claimed that members of the SHDC Development Management Committee were highly trained in planning. In that case, why do they sometimes overrule the recommendations of their professional planning officers?

And now I read (Gazette, March 24) of yet another example, on Burgh Island, of this very same committee yet again over-ruling not only the recommendation of their own planning officer, but also the opinion of the AONB manager. What kind of expertise is that?

The amenity societies’ proposal that the District Council representatives on the Partnership Committee should also sit on the council’s Development Management Committee, was also thrown out, without any discussion or consideration as to whether it is possible.

Why do the councillors and their advisers need to be so defensive when positive suggestions are being offered?

The chairman of the meeting claimed that 90 per cent of the responses made by the AONB unit to planning applications were upheld. But even if this figure were true, the circumstances are such that responses are provided only in extreme cases, and the remaining 10 per cent result in decisions which are damaging the AONB permanently.

Examples are an industrial-scale potato-processing plant in the AONB at Churchstow, an enormous hotel redevelopment at South Sands, a sprawling, unsightly solar farm on the edge of the AONB at Diptford, and so on, all of which were passed in the face of fierce local opposition.

There would have been a huge wind turbine in the AONB at Frogmore if it had not been for the efforts of local residents. The bad judgment of the members who over-ruled the officers eventually costsratepayers a very considerable sum. Now the Burgh Island “carbuncle” can be added to this list.

The amenity societies are not anti-development – they realise that communities have to grow, farmers have to earn a living, tourism providers have to modernise.

But they do object to inappropriate proposals which are unsightly, out of scale, out of place, badly designed, and which don’t respect the local environment.

So, Cllr Tucker, here are a few suggested actions for you:

l Replace the two SHDC members on the AONB Partnership Committee with two who have more sympathy with its aims and objectives, and who are more open-minded than at present, not forgetting, please, that this committee is non-political.

l If it is constitutionally allowable, appoint one or both of these members to your Development Management Committee. If not, then ensure that your Development Management Committee really understands the council’s statutory responsibilities toward the AONB.

l Give your full support publicly to the AONB and its staff unit.

l Publicly endorse the new AONB Planning Guidance document and help the AONB unit with its launch.

l Ensure that the new AONB Planning Guidance document is fully incorporated in the new Joint Local Plan, at least as far as South Hams District is concerned.

On the council website, you state personally that “the South Hams, with its rolling hills and stunning coastline, is the best place to live in all of Britain”, so please help us to keep it that way, before it is too late.

Geoffrey Osborn

South Hams Society member

Blackawton