BREAKING: Cockington visitor centre is sold at auction

Cockington’s centrepiece visitor centre has been sold at auction for almost a quarter of a million pounds.

An un-named bidder snapped up the Grade Two listed building which was one of the assets of the collapsed Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust.

The centre was originally built using public donations and council funding, but it was not owned by Torbay Council and administrators in charge of selling off the trust’s assets were obliged to get as much as they could for the trust’s creditors.

The revelation that the centre was to be included in the sell-off sparked an outcry in Torbay, and there was even a crowdfunding campaign with the equine ‘Mayor of Cockington’ Patrick the Pony as its figurehead.

The campaign fell short of its original £80,000 target.

The Friends of Cockington Country Park said the building should be safeguarded as a community asset and local councillors opposed the sale.

Agents Greenslade Taylor Hunt hosted the auction at Shilstone on the outskirts of Ivybridge, with bidders in the room and online.

The visitor centre building was offered as ‘a charming heritage property set within historic parkland, combining traditional character with a welcoming retail and information space’.

The listing went on: “Cockington Visitor Centre combines historic charm with functional amenities, making it a truly distinctive and appealing property suitable for a variety of uses, subject to securing necessary planning consents.”

A guide price of £120,000 was set, and bidding quickly went beyond that mark. With three bidders in the room and others online, it reached £241,000 before the hammer came down for a third time.

The successful bidder was not identified by name.

Five plots of land near Berry Head were also sold at the same auction for a total of just over half a million pounds.

Four different buyers snapped up the five plots of land, all of which have a footpath running through them which Torbay Council says it intends to make a formal public footpath.

All five plots were also part of the Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust’s assets being sold off to help pay the trust’s creditors.

Lot One, of 1.31 acres, sold for £50,000 having started at a guide price of £35,000. Lot Two, of 3.81 acres, went to the same buyer for £210,000, having started at £90,000.

Lot Three, of 4.23 acres, sold to an online bidder for £80,000 having started at a guide price of £50,000. Lot Four, the largest at 4.28 acres, came with a ‘substantial’ stone barn which is used as a bat roost. Having started at a guide price of £50,000, it was sold to an online buyer for £72,000.

Lot Five, described as 2.3 acres of ‘scrubland’ sold to a buyer in the room for £100,000 after starting at a guide price of £30,000.

Torbay Council leader David Thomas (Con, Preston) announced at a recent meeting of the bay’s influential cabinet committee that formal work had begun to make the permissive path across the land at Gillard Road, which is a busy walking route for local people, into an official public right of way.

Brixham Town Council has also called for the ‘permissive’ path to be formalised. Torbay Council will discuss the issue in May.

A statement from the town council said: “A huge thank you to Torbay Council for listening and working collaboratively with us, and for understanding how important this path is to Brixham.

“This is a really positive move towards protecting a valued and much‑used walking route for the community.”