Calls for Torbay Council to save Cockington visitor centre from sell-off

Torbay Council is being urged to step in to save Cockington’s visitor centre amid fears that it will be sold off.

The centre was originally built using public donations and council funding, but it is not owned by the council and is now scheduled to be sold as part of the liquidation of Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust’s assets.

The trust collapsed late last year, and administrators in charge of the sell-off are obliged to get as much as they can for the trust’s creditors by getting rid of assets including the visitor centre.

The revelation that the centre was to be included in the sell-off sparked an outcry on social media, and councillors are now pledging to fight for its future.

Ward councillor Mark Spacagna (Con, Cockington with Chelston) said in a Facebook video: “I will fight with the residents to keep it as it is. It is the heart of Cockington.”

And Cllr Cordelia Law (Lib Dem, Tormohun) commented: “How can it be right that it gets sold off from under our noses? It was our money that built it.”

The trust entered formal liquidation just before Christmas, and a Town Hall briefing to councillors explains: “Unfortunately, any decisions regarding the disposal of assets not owned by the council remain outside of our control and there is no formal way that we can control what happens with these.”

Paignton-born tennis star Sue Barker launched the Cockington Green Heart Appeal in 2015, and National Lottery funds were also used for projects including the visitor centre.

Cllr Law said the council administration’s response to the outcry had been ‘woefully lacking’.

She said: “Why were we not appraised in advance of this risk and which assets would be impacted?”

She said asking officers now to find out what the liquidators’ plans are for other non-council owned assets felt like shutting the barn door after the horse had bolted.

“Torbay Council needs to urgently look at how it can prevent other bits of Cockington and other assets previously owned and managed by the trust from being disposed of in a way that will further fragment and erode our public green spaces and country park.”

And, she said, with the council having received a better-than-expected financial settlement from the government for this year, perhaps money could be spent on saving assets such as the visitor centre.

In their own Facebook post, the Friends of Cockington Country Park said: “This building should be safeguarded as a community asset because it has already been paid for by the public once. Local people fund-raised to secure it for community use, not as a disposable commercial asset.

“The building was created, funded, and operated for community benefit. Liquidation may explain why a sale is taking place, but it does not justify treating the building as surplus to community needs.”

Cllr Spacagna said he shared the sadness expressed by local people that the centre and other assets were being sold off.

He went on: “This is here as a result of charity funding. I will be opposing the sale of this visitor centre.”