Beach huts

Council chiefs have said that disabled access will be taken into account when deciding whether to move the rest of Budleigh Salterton’s beach huts onto the beach.

Almost half of Budleigh Salterton’s 49 beach huts are sited along the seafront from the Longboat café to the Lime Kiln car park – the rest are on the beach.

East Devon District Council’s (EDDC) property services department are considering moving all the huts into line.

This would mean that the rough ground they currently sit on could be made into a grass verge so as to match the other existing sections of Marine Parade.

These plans, which would also see the huts being lowered, improving the views out to sea, have been backed by the town council.

Tenants are being consulted, and if the plans get approved it could happen by spring next year.

But a drawback of the plan is that all beach hut tenants would have to access the huts across shingle, which could prove difficult for some disabled tenants.

Budleigh Salterton resident Gaenor Williams said: “Is (EDDC) going to provide disabled access to the beach huts?

“Access to the beach is very limited and moving the beach huts onto the beach without providing access for disabled persons must be in breach of the disability act of 1995?”

A spokesman for the district council said: “At present, we are in contact with all interested parties about moving the beach huts.

“We are waiting until all responses are received and then the matter will be considered carefully before any decision is made.

“Disability access will be one of the considerations taken into account. No decision is due before September and any change would not happen until the spring of 2013.”