WITH Occombe Farm closed following the demise of the Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust, thoughts are turning to what might happen to the 150 acres of prime farmland that surrounds it.

No decisions have yet been made over the future of the site as the trust moves into liquidation, but speculation has been rife across social media that the premium land on hills above Torbay would be catnip for would-be housebuilders.

That speculation has been completely groundless, but there is a precedent for the possibility of homes in the rolling green fields. And it was Torbay Council that set the precedent nearly half a century ago.

Before the trust developed it into a visitor attraction with a farm shop and cafe in the mid-Noughties, Occombe was operating as a traditional working farm. Torbay Council leased the land to the trust as a base for its farming operations.

The trust kept cattle and sheep there, and there was much excitement when it decided to create its visitor-friendly site.

But from the 1960s onwards the council had entertained very different plans for the land.

With the popular Oldway Mansion golf course disappearing under hundreds of houses on the hills above Paignton, it wanted to create a new 18-hole course sweeping out over the green hills and deep valleys of the farm.

Some of the early plans dating from more than 40 years ago also had areas earmarked for housing alongside the greens and fairways.

In July 1982 the council applied for permission to build a course complete with clubhouse, car park and housing – an application that sparked angry local protests.

It proved to be so sensitive that it was passed on to the Environment Secretary, who at the time was Somerset Conservative MP Tom King.

He said he was concerned at the loss of high-quality agricultural land as well as the effect of the golf course and the houses on the landscape.

Neighbouring South Hams Council had already refused permission for parts of the course on its land, prompting an appeal from an angry Torbay.

A local inquiry was set up, and the council was ordered not to grant any planning permissions until the Mr King had made up his mind.

A planning inspector visited the bay and looked at some alternative sites for a golf course. Cockington, he decided, was too hilly.

He said in his report: “If the clubhouse was situated at the north end of the site, the climb which players completing a round would have to face would be particularly undesirable.”

The north end of the site would have been near Gallows Gate on the ring road, a steep climb up from the Cockington Valley below.

He decided that having a golf course at Occombe would not have an unacceptable impact on the landscape. Wildlife habitats could be harmed, he said, but they would eventually recover.

However, he said the planned housing would be prominent on the skyline and would be ‘seriously harmful’ to the landscape.

Because of that he said the council’s plans should be rejected, along with its appeal against the rebuff from the South Hams.

In July 1988, however, the council won permission to go ahead with a golf course, clubhouse and parking, with no housing included in the deal. No work took place to build it, though.

And in November 1991, with the new ring road now built around the western edge of the site, the golf course plans surfaced again.

Permission was once again granted for the course in fields to the north of Preston Down Road and east of Occombe Farm.

But one of the conditions attached was that work had to begin within five years, or the permission would be lost. November 1996 came and went without a sod being turned for a green or a fairway.

In 2006 Occombe opened to the public as a farm attraction under the umbrella of the Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust, and the golf course plan was sliced into the long grass for good.