Seaton resident tells councillors: 'New council offices will not benefit the town'

A Seaton resident has questioned how Seaton Town Council could justify building new offices on the Marshlands site which in her view would not benefit the town at all.

At the council's July meeting, held by video conferencing, she went on to discuss the state of the lampposts, benches and planters, claiming that the town looked "derelict and neglected".

The mayor, Cllr Kenneth Beer, responded by stating that the council was taking a lot of time making the town look better.

Cllr Daniel Ledger added that the lampposts were one of the council's priorities and that if the Marshlands scheme went ahead it would benefit the town by providing business units and a museum.

The resident responded that the lampposts had been talked about for two years.

Cllr Beer explained that most of the lampposts did not belong to the Town Council. This was echoed by Cllr Jack Rowland who added that work had started on the lampposts of West Walk, but this had been curtailed by the outbreak of Covid-19, and the lampposts on East Walk were owned by Devon County Council.

If the town council was to carry out that work, DCC's agreement would be needed.

Cllr Rowland reiterated that any redevelopment of Marshlands would benefit the town by relocation of the museum and possibly help finance elements of the Seafront Enhancement Scheme.

Cllr Marcus Hartnell went on to add that there were a lot of positive items on the agenda that would address the issues raised.

(This story was sourced from official council minutes which have not yet been approved)