A long standing issue of contention over a plot of land in a popular tourist destination is being questioned by taxpayers.

Salcombe Town Council and South Hams District Council have been playing a game of tug-of-war with land known as the Berry for the last few years, and residents have recently made comments about the lack of progress.

However, STC has moved to reassure the town that it is doing all it can to keep the Berry in the town’s own hands.

STC said it has tried to push this forward by continually trying to negotiate with SHDC since the town council held a public meeting in late 2017. However, negotiations are stalling due to the district council’s intransigence regarding the plot of land adjacent to the entrance from St Dunstans Road, referred to as Plot A.

Conflicts originally started in 1972, when under the Local Government Act, the Salcombe Urban District Council was abolished and Salcombe Town Council and South Hams District Council were created, and The Berry moved to be controlled by SHDC.

Up until then, parts of the Berry had been gifted under trust to Salcombe by Elspeth Carr in the 1930s. There is also contention over whether the land should have ever been passed to SHDC in the first place.

A charitable trust, the Charity for Elspeth Mary Carr for Recreation Ground, which is registered with the Charity Commission, controls the land that was gifted to the people of Salcombe. The trustee is SHDC.

Initially, the Berry was leased to STC by SHDC for 25 years, but that lease since ran out in 2018.

Prior to the lease running out, STC held a public meeting in October 2017 to ask the town how it should proceed with securing the town land.

In the meeting the residents of Salcombe made it clear that they wanted to keep all parts of the Berry and not just sections of it.

Salcombe Town Council said it is not acceptable for South Hams District Council to keep this plot of land as it was not the will of the residents at the public meeting. It has had to proceed by serving notice through the courts, renewing the lease to keep hold of Plot A.

John Tucker, leader of SHDC, said: “We held discussions with Salcombe Town Council in June 2018, during which we set out an alternative transfer agreement to the now expired lease, and the town council advised that those proposals were not to its liking.

“We are therefore proceeding with the renewal of the lease, and the legal agreements are being drawn up by solicitors, which can take some time.

“Plot A, which is owned by the district council as a trustee, will be included in the new lease (as it has always been).”

However, a spokesman for STC explained that SHDC will only agree to a 10-year lease renewal and even if the town council went to court the maximum term of the lease would still only be 15 years.

STC also said these negotiations have inevitably incurred additional legal fees over and above what was expected, but the town council must consider its position regarding the use of public money.

STC also pointed out that district councillors representing Salcombe have not been involved in discussions with officers as they are advised that this is trust land when not all of it is, and that no one resident of Salcombe is a trustee.