Mayor offers update on seafront regeneration at annual town meeting

The main topic up for debate at Seaton's annual town meeting was the much-anticipated redevelopment of the seafront, with the mayor saying he hopes to see some progression soon.

Seaton Town Council scrapped its seafront enhancement scheme in December, despite having already spent more than £50,000 on the project.

They agreed not to take the enhancement scheme any further, after a number of procedural and financial concerns were raised.

Planning permission for the enhancement scheme was granted in 2017 and it would have included pedestrianisation of sections of the seafront, demolition of the existing public toilets and moridunum and construction of a new building, alterations to the highway layout and a new pedestrian crossing, to allow formation of new public space with raised seating and siting of seasonal huts for commercial use.

But in December the town council admitted the project was "beyond the scope and resources of the town council", and would have been better led by either Devon County Council or East Devon District Council.

The decision was heavily criticised by residents and discussions have since taken place between the town and district councils to see if there is some way of taking the project forward with a new planning application, as the first has now expired.

The issue was raised at last week's annual town meeting, which was held in the car park of the Marshlands Centre and only attended by a handful of residents.

Questions asked included whether a new application had been submitted, whether Seaton Town Council could assure residents that the project would be taken forward, and what was being done to improve the appearance of the seafront in the meantime.

The newly-elected Mayor of Seaton, Cllr Dan Ledger, asked residents to be patient to ensure the council carried out due diligence, adding that he hoped they would see some progression soon with talks now underway.

Some had hoped that Seaton could submit a second planning application for the seafront enhancement scheme to benefit from the government's 'levelling up' funding.

Cllr Ledger said the first round of this funding would be going to Exmouth but they were working towards submitting an application in time for the second round of funding next year.

In the meantime, he said the council's workmen were continuing to repaint lampposts in the area and repairing any town council-owned assets that required attention.

Councillors will themselves be volunteering to repaint railings outside of The Vault up to the moridunum on Saturday, May 22 from 10.30am and residents are invited to join them.

Complimentary teas and coffees will be provided.

Cllr Ledger said: "We want to improve the vitality and appearance of our town. We are hoping for a bumper summer and as a town council we want to be prepared for that."

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