A NUMBER of new facilities for Bakers Park were given the go-ahead by Teignbridge District Council’s planning committee on Tuesday.

The updates will see five additional car park spaces, a new snack kiosk, changing rooms, a lighting column for a Devon Air Ambulance landing site and two electric car charging points.

Plans to update the park have proven to be controversial. An initial set of plans for were withdrawn in June when the application was set to increase the amount of car parking from spaces from the existing 19 spaces to 75.

Teignbridge Council agreed in March to spend £705,000 of funds received from section 106 contributions from developers. Of that, £489,000 has to be spent on Bakers Park. If the money is unspent, the Section 106 money returns to the developers.

The planners’ report highlights that the park has had issues with anti-social behaviour and unauthorised traveller encampments. To tackle this, CCTV and a two-metre barrier to prevent motorhomes and caravans will be installed.

Concerns were raised by Councillor Phil Bullivant about insufficient parking.

He said: ‘One of the key roles of the council is to make facilities available for a healthy lifestyle, however I do have serious concerns about how many car park spaces would it require to meet the demand.

‘That car park is normally full,’ he added.

Councillor Jackie Hook re-iterated Teignbridge’s commitment to carbon neutrality, saying: ‘The main objection to the first plans was the increased size of the car park.’

‘After consulting the public there was a feeling that people wanted to stay in the park for longer. The vast majority of people coming to this park come on foot and we should not be encouraging people to drive there.’

The installation of a snack kiosk was seen as unfair to an established local business by Newton Says No councillor Liam Mullone. A popular mobile coffee van ‘Coffee to Go’, which serves visitors to Bakers Park, received hundreds of signatures for a petition in opposition to the plans earlier this year.

‘Residents have said to me “please just stop meddling”,’ added Cllr Mullone.

Cllr Andrew McGregor, portfolio holder for sport, recreation and culture, said: ‘These plans will encourage our out and about and active policies and increase the amount of usage of the space for everyone.’