Chillington Community Association committee minutes published
Minutes of a meeting of the CCA committee held on 20 April are published and available here.
April draft minutes published
Draft minutes of April’s Full Council meeting of Stokenham Parish Council are now published and available here.
South Hams Society responds to Local Government Reorganisation proposals
The South Hams Society have scrutinised central government’s proposals for local government reorganization (LGR) and you can read their full report here: LGR Consultation Submission[86].
Alternatively, you can read a shorter and more concise summary here: LGR summary.
It’s the usual thoughtfully put together response that we have come to appreciate from the South Hams Society, and will fully repay close attention.
Full Council Agenda published
The agenda for April’s Full Council meeting is now published and available here.
News from the Slapton Line Partnership
The Slapton Line Partnership (SLP) is a multi-agency forum that brings together representatives of the coastal communities of Start Bay with local government and other agencies working to help the community adapt to the changing coastline. The Partnership has been hard at work since the January-February storms, with working groups focused on different aspects of adapting to the post-storm realities publishing minutes of their first meetings this week. You can read minutes of the Amenities working group here, and minutes of the Inland Routes working group here.
Sold-out Annual Parish Meeting hears Secrets of Shifting Sands
Stokenham village hall was packed last Tuesday for the Annual Parish Meeting, where a capacity audience at the all-ticket affair heard a talk by Gerd Masselink entitled “Coastal erosion in Start Bay – Can we have our shingle back please?”
Professor Masselink heads up the Coastal Processes Research Group at Plymouth University and is widely acclaimed as the world’s leading authority on the changing coastline of southwest England. He held his audience spellbound for over an hour with a series of photographs, charts, graphs and diagrams that spelled out in painstaking detail the reasons behind the rapid loss of shingle at the southern end of each of the embayments in Start Bay, the key factor responsible for the unusually high degree of damage sustained by both the buildings on Torcross seafront and the A379 Slapton Line road in the January-February 2026 storm sequence. 
Using detailed wave height and direction data he was able to show that it was a freak combination of wave direction, lowered beach height, and spring high tides, together with the wind direction of the previous two storms, that was responsible for the most significant destruction.
The talk was followed by a question-and-answer session, before adjournment for a more informal chat over a glass of wine. “It wasn’t an easy message to hear,” said one audience member, “but you can’t argue with the science.”
“It’s really made me think about how we’re going to have to adapt to the changing climate,“ said another. “There’s only going to be one winner in a battle with the sea.”
Annual Parish Meeting – last call for tickets!
With nearly two-thirds of the available tickets already allocated, time is running out to book your seat for next Tuesday’s Annual Parish Meeting. The highlight of the evening is an illustrated talk from Gerd Masselink, professor of coastal geomorphology at Plymouth University, on the mysteries of shingle movement in Start Bay, on which subject he is a world authority, as well as a brief review of a year on the parish council. All this, and a glass of passable Fleurie (or a cup of tea, if that’s more your cup of tea) – what’s not to like? Get your FREE tickets here.
March draft minutes published
Draft minutes of March’s Full Council Meeting are now published and available here.