Cool reception for saunas on the beach

Plans for Blackpool Sands scuppered

A plan to put mobile saunas on one of Devon’s most famous beaches has been rejected.

Members of South Hams Council’s development control committee heard that it would be a ‘dereliction of duty’ to allow the saunas at Blackpool Sands, named in national travel magazines as one of Britain’s best beaches.

Sea Kayak Devon and the Blackpool Start Partnership already have one sauna on the sands, and had applied to replace that with three new pods.

Amanda Burden, speaking in favour of the application, said they would complement the beach’s role in wild swimming. They would also support the rural economy.

“This is a well-considered, health-promoting, landscape-sensitive proposal,” she said.

Cllr Simon Rake (Lib Dem, Blackawton and Stoke Fleming) added: “Blackpool Sands is quite rare in that it marries the best of a natural beach with an amenity beach.

“I think these saunas sit very well in that hybrid role that Blackpool Sands plays.”

However, Strete Parish Council had described the plan as ‘inappropriate’ and South Hams officers said the benefits of the saunas would not outweigh the harm done to the landscape.

The saunas would be visible from the road and the coast path, and Roger English of the South Devon National Landscape organisation described the views as ‘iconic’.

Cllr Guy Pannell (Lib Dem, South Brent) told colleagues: “We are being asked to agree a semi-permanent intrusion on to that open beach.

“It is a dereliction of duty to the landscape if we allow them to be placed there.”

The committee voted by a majority to refuse the saunas.

An alternative site for the saunas was also discussed during the meeting, with several councillors suggesting they could be sited away from the beach in a corner of the Blackpool Sands car park.