Orcombe Point and the Elizabeth Hall

EDDC propose to tender for the development of a restaurant with a small Jurassic Coast Interpretation Centre at the end of the road under Orcombe Point. Karime Hassan at the meeting of the Overview Committee on the 6 October 2005 stated that he thought it unlikely that he would be able to interest any developers in building at Orcombe. He therefore recommended that a package be offered whereby, in exchange for building the restaurant facility, a developer would be offered the opportunity to also develop the Elizabeth Hall site which is now considered surplus to requirements.

We are concerned about the wisdom of building a restaurant where developers feel that it is unviable. Enticing developers to building on land by offering them other development opportunities as a "sweetener" seems even more suspect!

Our view is that Orcombe Point is the wrong location for a restaurant being at the far end of the seafront. A better site would be at the Foxholes Car Park. This is also the preferable site for any Interpretation Centre as it would be used not only by people using the zig-zag to climb the cliffs but also those walking the coastal footpath that passes through the back of the Foxholes Car Park. At Foxholes the restaurant would have plenty of adjacent car parking which is more likely to ensure its use throughout the year. This could provide a more delightful setting alongside the Maer and the dunes with Panoramic views from Orcombe to Brixham.

Consideration should be given to closing the stretch of Queens Drive from Foxholes to Orcombe and making it into an extension of the Foxholes Car Park.

In the original plans it was suggested that the land at the end of Queens Drive and under Orcombe Point would be sold to enable this development to go ahead. The Residents Association is against the sale of council owned land and believes that it should only be made available under leases the length of which is appropriate to the likely use of the land.