GARY TAYLOR, Town and District Councillor for Dawlish SW Ward, writes in. praise of the works done by Network Rail in Dawlish:

Staged not in its popular Shaftesbury Theatre, but at the town’s nearby seafront, the fitting finale of an unlikely love-match is about to be revealed for all to see – set against the steamy backdrop of Brunel’s iconic railway…

I refer of course not to films or stage shows or matters of the heart, but to matters of architecture: where captivatingly curvaceous footbridge meets monstrously muscular seawall! 

Beauty, it is said, is in the eye of the beholder. In a current Government planning shake-up however, ‘beauty’ could become enshrined in planning regulations, alongside roof designs which would enable upward extensions – and more down-to-earth subjects such as the use of artificial grass.

We would all wish for beauty in the things around us - but can something so subjective be defined in planning rules, without confining development to becoming a pastiche of the past? Where does the balance fall between appearance and substance? 

Fortunately, Dawlish’s new seawall footbridge, needs no such new guidance, it has both qualities it would seem in equally good measure!

Network Rail’s design – crafted to a tight brief from Teignbridge planning officers – was conceived as an open structure affording unrestricted views out to sea from the town centre. 

Accordingly, the footbridge runs parallel with the three-arched, sectional viaduct carrying the main west coast line, ‘shadowing’ its main structural elements. 

Supported on two elongated hexagonal piers and buttressed at each end by the massive ramparts of the recently constructed seawall, the gracefully curved cast-concrete deck is also deeply scalloped, echoing the arched tops of the viaduct.

Topped with marine-style canted stainless steel posts and railings, it will surely be seen as one of the finest examples of contemporary architecture in the district – and all the more so due to its juxtaposition within the most ‘brutalist’ (and controversial) elements of the Dawlish seawall scheme. 

Unabashed, the pre-formed concrete wave-returning parapets resisted the changes called for by critics on Dawlish Town Council (myself included). Happily however, much of the finer detailing such as rock profile facing materials and wheelchair viewing points came forward in the end. 

So it’s hats off to Network Rail – and roll on the sequel: the soon to emerge fully-accessible Dawlish Station passenger lifts and bridge. Bravo!

Do youy agree with Cllr Taylor? Let us know at [email protected]