Proposed Salcombe Regis FolkWeek campsite: response from one resident of Salcombe Regis.
The following response was received by email on 9 January 2014 from a resident of Salcombe Regis. It is significant because it emphasises the degree to which Salcombe Regis village is already 'over-run' in the summer - a factor that FolkWeek organisers may not fully have appreciated if they surveyed the area at any other time of year.
Adding the extra traffic generated by the proposed FolkWeek campsite could make an already fraught situation arguably intolerable. This would benefit no-one, yet in agreeing to license the campsite EDDC appear (in the eyes of many residents) to have ignored their remit for 'ensuring public safety' and 'avoiding public nuisance'.
Dear
Steve,
I don't have much to add to your Analysis of Winners and Losers
apart from your depiction of Salcombe Regis as a sleepy backwater.
Would that it was! During the summer on any one day the population swells from about 65
residents to over 1,500 if you count in the Salcombe Regis Caravan and Camping park, and
the West Midlands-type conurbation of permanent and ad-hoc caravan and camping parks that
spread in all directions from the combe. I doubt that EDDC even know of the existence of
many of the temporary sites.
I haven't even mentioned the 1,000 odd visitors a day to the excellent Donkey Sanctuary.
There is a lot of yelling, screaming and dog barking from all quarters and I'm more
reminded of the estates where I grew up than a sleepy backwater. Come Festival time the
Fringe Event stretches our tolerance to breaking point with noise late into the evening,
not for an extended weekend like most sensible festivals - but for a whole week.
You can understand why adding the Folk Festival to the mix is not welcome. The way the
EDDC and National Trust have handled this in such a high-handed and arrogant way has been
even more infuriating than the expected consequences of the site move itself.
Incidentally, the National Trust were under the impression that camping wasn't to start
until 2015, and, also, that some sort of planning application had to be completed.
They had to be put right on that fact, so someone, somewhere, has been economical with the
truth.
Best wishes with the website and SeeRed.
(name deleted)