The road through the woods

2

08/01/2024 by Carl Reynolds

May 23

Dec 23

The Grove and Marridge Woods, often referred to locally as Churston Woods, are a remnant of ancient woodland; and given the lichen and mosses abundant in the woods, they give some idea of how the ancient Atlantic Rainforest might have operated in a moist environment.

A few years ago much of the central area of the woods – tens of acres – were clear cut due to Larch Die Back. A local group, Friends of the Grove and the Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust (TCCT) raised money to ‘restore’ the woodlands – just shy of £10K. Many trees were planted in the woods and several wildlife surveys were carried out in the subsequent years. I can see no record of wildlife or condition surveys in recent years.

Since then Churston Woods, compared to other nearby woods of size (Long Woods run by the National Trust and Lupton House Woods), seem more florally diverse, a little wilder. As to fauna – the presence of humans and dogs; lack of connectivity with other woodland and other local land management practices (sheep grazing) mean that mammals larger than a squirrel are unlikely to be seen; but there are small groups of migratory birds that use the woods for feed in winter; you see the odd Buzzard about and at dusk and dawn here the odd Owl.

TCCT manages the woods on a long term lease from Torbay Council. It has a Brixham team (known as the Berry Head team by other workers in TCCT) and other teams who come in to do other work.

From early this year and into late summer I was pleased to see that the management of the woods was minimal; allowing a profusion of flora to burst forth in the woods. So much so, that I was often lost, and only able to navigate by looking at the fall of the valley in the middle of the woods. Unfortunately little seems to be done about what DEFRA calls Non-Native Invasive Species – in this case Pampas Grass and Himalayan Honeysuckle. In all cases they are beginning to dominate the patches they have been introduced to. Given the locality of these species (often set back from the paths in inaccessible clumps), they were possibly brought in during ‘restoration’ on the boots of volunteers or by subsequent visitors.

But while this lack of managing the woods to restore to ancient woodland is already a major failing; perhaps more damaging are the human incursions since late Summer/early Autumn. In late Summer the main paths were cut back to the width of a wide single track road to enable repairs to the coast path at Churston Cove. This included a massive improvement to the stairs all the way up along the coast path but also, disappointingly, corporate advertising on the steps and the installation of a metal handrail.

In Autumn things got worse. A yellow sign went up at end of American Lane and by Fishcombe holiday village saying the footpath between the two would be closed for 10 weeks from 16 October. American Lane had been covered with hard core several times during its existence, but the road had gone no further than a wide field adjacent to fields behind North Boundary Lane. With a flurry of emails to local councillors, Torbay Council, SWISco (the local building works public company), Cormac (the contractors on site) the Ramblers Association (who oversee the John Musgrove Heritage Path), Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust the following became apparent –

1. There was a consultation back in 2019/21 on improving cycle access across Torbay. American Lane and the back pathway (both part of the John Musgrave Heritage Trail) into Brixham was identified as a potential route, subject to further consultation (see reference at point 2). The plans also included – as part of a cohesive package (in other words it doesn’t make sense unless you join it together) – closing Bascombe Road to through traffic, to enable safer cycling and walking. 
2. “Further details of the trails and the recommended improvements to deliver them are shown on the following pages. It should be noted that the recommendations are at a very early stage of design, and further engagement, consultation, and design work will be needed to further develop and deliver them. Through these further engagement and design stages, opportunities should be explored to incorporate tree planting, habitat creation and other Green Infrastructure, Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS), playspace, and other elements to help to deliver wider Council objectives.” Source – Torbay Local Cycling and Walking Infrastruture Plan (LCWIP). 
3. This did not happen
4. The new path (a road by any other measure) is hard aggregate laid into a rubber/plastic network lattice.
5. The local farmer who leased surrounding land admitted five counts of failing to comply with or contravening Environment Agency permits between 2010 and 2020 in Exeter Crown Court in June 2023, which related to importing waste onto his land. The farmer had also it seems filled the underside of a bridge on the old railway line into Brixham on Copythorne Lane.
6. A local group – Brixham Heritage Trail has been working to convert the old railway line – much of it still present (if overgrown) as a footpath from Churston Grammar school to North Boundary Road. As recently as 15/20 years after the line closed, local people report walking along it until it was made impassable by the local farmer dumping earth and other substances on its route. Much of this dumping is still visible (Check Google Earth). And much of the old line is now in fact a track in this section.
7. A local Churston/Glampton councillor said that Torbay Council was in receipt of s106 money and it had to be spent. Council records from 2022 show that there were several pots of s106 money and ‘improvements’ to American Lane were seen to be ‘easy’. S106 money is money developers give to councils to mitigate the impact of their development and/or contribute to local projects of value. So for example the Inglewood housing developers would have given money under s106. 
8. Another two local councillors – Adam Billings and Alan Tyerman – also said that their local constituents (people in some very large houses along Bascombe Road and the golf course) objected to the proposed Heritage Trail, as work cutting trees on the old railway embankment (about level with their second floor windows) would spoil their view as they’d be able to see a proposed solar farm at Brokenbury. And that the solar farm had received planning permission because the same trees would “lessen the visual impact of the development”. Note – a Conservative councillor commenting on a likely development and using visual impact as a reason…those of you campaigning against Breakwater Beach development might spot an irony here!
9. The Ramblers took a long time replying, but essentially said they didn’t mind a large path/road being built through the woods and over the Heritage Footpath they promote.
10. TCCT denied any knowledge of the path at the time – either that it was going to happen or why – despite the fact that they manage a lot of the land the ‘path’ covers and had done some ground work for the road to be laid. But a month or two later in Facebook responses to comments said that they had developed the path ideas with partners.
11. The estimated cost of the path (2019 figures – see next image) was set at £2.3millon. Remember the woods restoration was £10,000!
12. As of January 2024 (works were supposed to conclude in December) the road (it’s no longer a pathway) is still not complete, pools water in several places, runs off down the slope past Fishcombe Holiday village and into the sea at Fishcombe Cove. And has failed to resurface what most of us call American Lane, only built a road across the next field and through the woods.
13. I have not been able to receive any information on whether an Environmental Impact Assessment was made; when the works to Bascombe Road will be completed (the road through the woods as a cycle way is pointless without them); how they plan to address cycle access down the path from the woods to Battery Gardens.

Why has this happened? I suspect that it is mainly because the landowners, leasees and others follow the money. And the money at the moment is about human access. So an obvious route – using the old railway line, which would have removed both pedestrians and cyclists from the road – was ignored in the face of expediency. 

The current path/road doesn’t connect to anything. By failing to implement a cycle network in a cohesive way, Torbay Council is just ticking pointless boxes. And this is their pattern – there is no cycle network if a) there are no cyclists to use it, b) it doesn’t connect to any other cycle infrastructure. A little like the absurd cycleway out of Brixham on the A road; which is a narrow shared pathway and then a 100 metres of separated cycleway that just stops dead at Churston village. So a cycleway to nowhere effectively.

And the other player, TCCT, by focussing on increasing human access, to the detriment of nature recovery or restoration, is degrading the natural landscapes it is supposed to be managing. Never mind the absurdity of the so-called Friends of The Grove who fundraised for benches to be installed in a recovering ancient woodland, despite their own FB page highlighting the need to work removing invasive species. 

What happens next? The Breakwater campaigners might be interested to know that local Conservative councillors think that visual impact is a key factor in planning decisions and they are willing to comment on potential planning applications… in marked contrast to their current positions.

Locals might be interested in why the council can apparently spend £2.3million on a road in the woods that connects to none of their intended local cycleway across the bay… and yet fail to support the actual restoration of a woodland. Or meaningful pedestrian/cyclist safety – eg using traffic control on Bascombe Road – 20mph urban limits – pavements that aren’t parked on – ridding ourselves of the lunatic 60mph speed limit on Copythorne Lane etc.

And all of us should consider how a failure to put nature recovery and restoration at the centre of any climate change or public health policies contributes to furthering worsening weather, decline of non-human species and ultimately a pretty huge impact on our ability to survive on this planet.