Jim Parker: The financial writing has been on the wall for Bay's green guardians for years

I remember well a conversation with my esteemed journalist colleague Tina Crowson in the news room of the Herald more than 25 years ago.
She was asking if it was okay to become a trustee of the Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust, including Occombe Farm.
Of course the answer was ‘yes’ but I commented, slightly tongue in cheek, that plans for the farm would never work. My belief was that people would not be willing to pay to watch cows poo; there needed to be more to the offer.
The Trust also managing the Bay’s green jewels for owners Torbay Council and trying to make some money out of what were essentially natural, beautiful and protected fields was going to be something of a Herculean task, was also my humble opinion.
I take no pleasure in saying this but I have proved to be right. It may have taken 25 years but the Trust has never been able to quite pull it off financially.
That is not knocking the current and past management and trustees - and let’s not forget the amazing army of volunteers who have helped to keep these places going.
They have tried loads of things and different fund-raising ventures. Who remembers the Green Heart Appeal fronted by Paignton’s TV celebrity, former tennis queen Sue Barker? And what happened to the Occombe Beer Festival and the Cockington Proms in the Park?
The financial writing has been on the wall for a number of years and this time the writing became fact when the trustees were forced to put the Trust into liquidation because they could see no sustainable financial future.
It wasn’t for the lack of trying on behalf of the council right up until the last minute despite some claims to the contrary.
Council leader Dave Thomas, with Lib Dem and Independent colleagues, had been in talks with the Trust who were after topping up their £328,000 annual council payment to make ends meet.
Cllr Thomas says: “The starting position is that the trust is a separate organisation on its own, it is a business that stands on its own.
“Although the council set it up and gave it money to do works, as far as its running and everything, it was totally separate. It was run by trustees who were in effect directors.
“They had all the controls, the hiring and firing of staff and spending money and in which direction they saw fit. It was the trustees that decided to put the company into liquidation.”
He revealed: “Over the years there have been many conversations with the Trust about needing more money etc, etc. The council has been there to step in at the 11th hour.
“We have had conversations for most of this year. The most recent conversation was that they needed more money.”
The council actually agreed to an offer to help out.
Cllr Thomas said: “We decided that we would go to the amount of money they wanted, but I wanted to find out with that kind of money how stable would they be? Would we be having this conversation next year? I wanted to make sure it was stable. You cannot keep putting money into a business if there is a big hole where the money is going out.”
I am told the trustees came back after a financial appraisal and advice and could give no guarantee of not having to return and ask for more financial help in the not too distant future.
“By 2028 they were projecting a big loss,” said Cllr Thomas. “The extra money was going to go nowhere near it.”
He was conscious that councils like Torbay could be in for a rough ride over the next three years with government funding being cut.
He said: “For the next three years it’s going to be really tricky financially for the council.
“We need careful management. We are hearing there could be a cut of between £6 million and £7 million down the road. We will get details of the government settlement just before Christmas but it does look pretty bleak.”
He added: “In our manifesto we assured residents we would look after their money and seek value for their money and would not invest in things that may fall over.
“But the offer to the Trust was still on the table when they decided to put the company into liquidation.
“They went away and two days later they wrote to me saying they were going to liquidate the company.”
And what of the future? Will SWISCo end up managing the land? It is a possibility but nothing has been decided.
Cllr Thomas says: “The council set up the trust and gave leases to the Trust for large areas of Torbay land.
“At the moment they are leased to the trust and they are sitting with the liquidator.”
He added: “There has been speculation on Facebook about houses being built on Occombe Farm.
“There is a housing scheme down the road for 101 units which has planning permission. Occombe has a farm building, a café and play area and its value is about £2.5 million. To knock it down and build houses in its place does not stack up.
“We have no ambition to do that. We want to see Occombe alive and thriving again and the way it was. The Trust land is not for housing development sites. It’s sensationalism.”
Cllr Thomas is hoping to see a future where you will see no difference in the way our green crown jewels are managed and a rejuvenated Occombe Farm with more than just cows to see!
Meanwhile, he hits the nail on the head when he says: “There are people involved in this, people who could lose their jobs. Coming into the winter season and close to Christmas. It makes it even harder for those people and we must not forget the volunteers, loads of volunteers.”