People power appears to have turned the tide in the battle for Teignmouth's historic Back Beach.
At a packed Teignmouth Town Council Finance and General Purposes Commitee meeting at Bitton House on Tuesday, all 11 councillors present voted to reject the Environment Agency's proposed £2.4 million flood defence scheme with mayor Cllr Vince Fusco concluding: 'I feel that when the time comes that there is a danger, that's when the town will deal with it.'
On Wedneday, the Environment Agency said it would not force the scheme on the town if it was not wanted.
More than 50 people crowded into the council chamber to deliver their impassioned message and awaiting the councillors' arrival in bitterly cold conditions was a group of peaceful protesters, one of whom was Dave Wareham, a life long boatman with extensive knowledge of the estuary.
'Floods like they suggest we might get won't happen in my lifetime,' he said. 'It seems to me the scheme has got more to do with the dock extension.'
Inside, the objections continued starting with local author and historian Viv Wilson.
'There is more to this flood defence scheme than meets the eye,' she suggested to a round of applause, adding: 'Will we see a luxury block of flats there one day?'
Another speaker, Darren Copeland, described the beach as: 'A place of romance where imagination and dreams take place,' and Reg Matthews recalled worse flooding problems in the past. He said: 'The highest tides today only come up as far as number 7 Ivy Lane, a foot lower than 50 years ago.'
Other speakers had concerns that the scheme would create scouring problems, make it impossible for boat owners to gain access to the beach and that moorings would be rendered useless by the backwash a wall would create.
Town trader and former lifeboat spokesman Paul Barczok added: 'Places all along Devon and Cornwall are screaming out for flood defences while we're not,' and rejected district councillor Gordon Hook's 'scaremongering' about the difficulties of arranging insurance cover in the affected areas.
A submission by Cllr David Weekes of photographs showing an apparently unchanging high tide line throughout the past 125 years appeared to encapsulate the mood within the chamber, as did his statement when he claimed that the authorities and the insurance companies were 'Selling us a bum steer'.
On Wednesday, Geoff Carlill, of the Environment Agency, confirmed that the scheme would not be forced on the town if that was the clear message.
'However, what we need to do first is to ensure that everyone in the town who may be affected by flooding has had the chance to express their views,' he said.
'We would urge as many people as possible to attend the public exhibition at Bitton House on Tuesday, March 9, between 2pm and 8pm and we will be delivering letters to the 400 households we have identified as lying within the risk area.
'We estimate that each year there is a one in 50 chance of flood water topping the existing defences, and while we do not wish to belittle local knowledge, it does appear to contradict
what climatologists are saying.'