The full text of the statement by Malcolm Bell of South West Tourism

Mr Malcolm Bell, Chief Executive of South West Tourism has given me his permission to reprint in full the text of his comments about tourism in Seaton which have been the subject of much spin by the developers. These were made on 22 December 2006 to Rachel Whitson, of Absolute PR of Exeter following a meeting with the developers. The text in full is:

Dear Rachel

Seaton Development Plans

I must first apologise for the delay in writing to you following our meeting with Terry and yourself earlier in the month, it has turned out to be a more frantic month than I was expecting.

Overall we would welcome the development of Seaton as a high quality coastal town especially given its location adjacent to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site

As we discussed at a meeting, it is important that there is wise and careful development of our coastal towns, in order that we can ensure they are developed in a sensitive and careful manner. Such developments must build and strengthen the distinctiveness of each of the towns and increase the quality of life for local people as well as improving the quality of experience of visitors.

With regard to the development plans for Seaton, I recognize that the existing holiday park is approaching the end of its current commercial viability and that considerable investment would be needed to redevelop the site as a holiday park and that the required additional modern facilities needed may not be financially viable given the bed space capacity on the site. However, we would be encouraging the planning authorities to seek opportunities within East Devon to replace this loss of bed stock and preferably within the holiday park sector.

We would also like to see a high quality, distinctive and compatible design for the development that utilises good sustainable construction principles and that would build on, and improve, the overall visual attractiveness of the town. It will be important to include the local community in the process of shaping the development to ensure its acceptance and to maximise opportunities for other local businesses. In addition, we would like to see effective integration between facilities for the local community, the new residents and visitors. I was pleased to hear that you intend to ensure good integration with the site and the town together with the developing nature reserve.

This is especially important given that the site is adjacent to the main retail street and it will be important that the development ensures a close integration with the existing shops. Shopping is growing in importance as over a quarter of visitor spend is on shopping and we would like to see the maximum opportunities for local produce and goods.

Finally, I confirm our support for the development of Seaton and the sensitive and sustainable redevelopment of the site, but I would like the developers to integrate, if not all then most, of the comments made in this letter during their detailed planning and implementation.

Yours sincerely

Malcolm Bell

Chief Executive

Personally, I do not see that this constitutes agreement with the developer's plans in any way whatsoever and I see nothing to disagree with in Mr Bell's statement. He is talking of the development of Seaton as a whole, he states that he would prefer the tourist zone at the holiday village to be kept and says that any development must encourage tourists and be of the highest quality. He says that it is important to increase the quality of life of visitors and tourists, work with the local community and notes that community facilities should be integrated into the development and makes a special plea for local produce and goods.

I feel that Mr Dinham has misrepresented Mr Bell - who is a victim of spin - and that we should congratulate Mr Bell on his incisive comments. I fear, though, that Mr Dinham's assurance that he will ensure good integration of the site, the town and the developing nature reserve will prove to be empty promises and that Mr Bell's vision for Seaton will not be realised.