Len Moore, of Kellaton, near Kingsbridge, writes: From the article 'Beachside parking wrangle over green', it appears, now that the houses behind the village green have been protected with a new design of sea defence, with money provided by the whole community, that the village protesters do not want anyone to park on the village green, therefore decreasing its usage. I draw my own conclusions as to their reasons. I was born in the village and parking on the green has always been permitted and therefore is an established right. If this right is to be removed, then the right of access along the road adjacent to the properties must also be challenged because this is also part of the village green. There are also established rights to park and fish, to walk dogs, a right of access across the green to the Cellars and of course for the coastal path for walkers for 24 hours a day. I presume eventually these will be targeted for removal. In fact, new parking regulations that were petitioned for have been passed, whereby overnight parking will not be allowed between 8pm and 8am – the most important times to fish. The Professional Fishermen's Area and the parking areas outside of the toilets along to the south end of the church are also included in the area of the village green. If the parking ban is to be passed, the fishermen will not be allowed to park within the fishermen's boat park. When the village green was purchased by the council, it included an attached strip of land in front of and along the whole length of the main village. It is now built on with the sea wall, the rock armour defence and the parking areas, including the area of seating outside the village pub. There must be some question as to whether this was part of the village green, and therefore clarity should be obtained to determine whether it should be subjected to the proposed parking ban and the removal of the pub seating. The newspaper article quotes: 'the villagers are fed up and people were emptying their latrines and throwing out their dogs in the morning.' The truth, however, is that I know for a fact all of the villagers are not fed up with the camper vans and welcome the money and business they bring to the area. As for the emptying of latrines, I suspect it should read person or persons, and is probably a case for the police. Throwing out dogs is a case for the dog warden and the RSPCA, or perhaps this is a lead-up to the banning of dog walkers. When the village green was established in its present form, a clause was included that would not permit any commercial activity and therefore no car parking can be charged. This has been contravened because the fishermen pay a rent for their winches. My interpretation of when it was a caravan site is that it was still a village green and we were never prevented from playing on it. I have great memories of playing football with the local boys and girls from the villages and the holidaymakers, with cars parked everywhere. De-registration would invalidate the above clause and would mean the council would have control of the green and be able to charge for parking. This would bring in an income that would help to pay for the sea defences, which makes sense provided the seaside car parking was maintained. I see the council has 21 days to consult. Why the hurry? My solution is to call a public meeting for all to attend and take a vote on it – let the people from the community decide. My view is that it should remain as it is, if that was the decision of the meeting and for the council to ignore the objectors. If they then proceed to sue the council and are willing to risk the loss of access for their neighbours, then this would tell them the kind of people they are and would probably not cost the council any more than it is already spending. Parking in a field would deny a large number of the elderly the pleasure of sitting in the car and enjoying the view. This part of the community should be given a great deal of consideration by those who are forcing the no parking ban, who should perhaps withdraw their actions.
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