Dorothy Dawson, of Belgrave Terrace, Teignmouth, writes:

Following on the 'Vision for Teignmouth' report published by TDC last June, I set out to find out whether characteristics for a 'Seaside Town' have ever actually been spelled out. I have just read 'England's Seaside Towns - A 'benchmarking' study' on the Department for Communities and Local Government's website. This is a 70 page report dated November 2008 and produced by the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University.

The Department for Communities and Local Government is still with us, and although 'Seaside Towns - A 'benchmarking study' is scheduled for review, it still contains some interesting statistics, a lot of which are based on the last Census, carried out in 2001. I would recommend anyone who has an interest in Teignmouth's future to have a look at it.

The report's introduction points out that 'seaside' is not the same as coastal', and as a follow-on to this it comes up with a pretty good specification for a seaside town.

It says: In contrast, (a previous review) argued that 'seaside towns (or seaside resorts) these terms are much more interchangeable) are a more clearly identifiable group of places (than 'coastal'). Because of their history of tourism, and in most cases the continuing significance of this sector, they tend to share a number of features that distinguish them from other places along the coast or inland. This includes a specialist tourist infrastructure (promenades, piers, parks etc), holiday accommodation (hotels, boarding houses, caravan sites) and a distinctive resort character that is often reflected in the built environment. Moreover, while some resorts have fared better than others, they have all to a greater or lesser extent faced challenges arising

from the changing structure of the UK holiday trade.

Teignmouth is one of the seaside towns listed in the report, and the importance of tourism to us is clear.

Apart from public administration/health at 40%, tourism and related activities are by far the biggest provider of employment at 32%. As for 'the changing structure of the UK holiday trade': we are currently competitive because the £ is cheap - we've had a lot of visitors from exotic spots this year - if global warming is actually about to get worse, being cooler than the Costa will actually be a good thing - the only reason a lot of people go abroad for their holidays is they can get ridiculously cheap hotel/air fare packages.

If air travel becomes more expensive - and there are those who think it will this incentive will cease to exist.

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So, let's aim to make Teignmouth a top quality tourist venue, no compromises.

I'd like to make a couple of suggestions based on conversations I've had with visitors recently.

One thing we could do, is to organise a 'Teignmouth star' rating system for eating/drinking places - it wouldn't matter whether they were highbrow or low- brow, they would just have to be top quality in their class. I think we could officially major on super-fresh, locally sourced, perfectly cooked. Nothing from the freezer. There are many venues that could have 3 stars right now. A free, official and unbiased eating guide would be a good thing.

And organise some parking space. I am sick and tired of having to talk nicely to frustrated visitors who can't find anywhere to park. How much longer are TDC going to bury their heads in the sand over this business of car parking?

> Why are we allowing autohomes - and site offices - to take up space in the Eastcliff car park? I don't care if they are 'contractors' - when I was a 'contractor' I toed the accommodation line like everybody else. Could we

> negotiate a deal with the Station Business Park to allow visitor parking there at weekends? Would it be possible to allow holiday parking on the Broadmeadow playing fields temporarily? Next weekend is the start of the Regatta 2010 and if this weekend is anything to go by, the situation is going to be appalling.

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What is the point of organising all these exciting, popular and well-attended events if there is nowhere for people to park?

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TDC, if you have got a few pounds to spare - and even if you haven't, please, please organise a park and ride at Broadmeadow. It will be the best contribution to Teignmouth's infrastructure you ever made.