Message from Beer Parish Council about Saturday’s meeting in the Mariners’ hall.
23/02/2026
Firstly, we would like to thank everyone who attended Saturday’s meeting. Fortunately the weather was kind to us and it enabled a high number of people to attend. Special thanks to the Horticultural Society for providing delicious refreshments. The Parish Councillors have taken note of all the varied opinions expressed and they will all be carefully considered before any further action is taken by the Council.
Our principle aim in holding Saturday’s meeting was to visually highlight the very serious threat we face with the cliff at Common Lane. The condition of the cliff edge at its narrowest point is very precarious and we felt we needed to bring this to the attention of the villagers. How, what and when we respond to this situation is completely open for debate.
Nothing contained in or shown on the plans which were on show Saturday is “set in stone and already decided upon”. Saturday’s meeting was just the first part of the consultation process we intend having with the whole electorate. We have listened to the many comments made to us and we will now take them all forward to the next stage of the public debate. The overwhelming opinion we received on Saturday was recognition of the fact that Beer does potentially have a very serious problem, if the cliff collapses and the road has to be closed forever. How we solve that problem is what we will now address. We hope we were able to dispel many of the unfounded fears some villagers had about our plans. There has been a lot of misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the ways we should tackle this problem. Our aim is to formulate a plan which at the very least achieves the continued existence of the roadway for pedestrian access to and from the Cliff Top car park to the beach. An essential part of that plan will be to restrict weight and width limit of all vehicles being allowed to pass along Common Lane from its junction with The Meadows westward up the hill to its junction with Southdown Road. There was clear recognition on Saturday of the potential damage which heavy vehicles could have upon the road surface which might lead to its collapse. Beyond that decision and what measures are now suggested to be implemented, will be thoroughly debated and considered.
We welcome the further input from residents and suggestions. If however you have any further questions or queries please contact parish council by email to clerk@beer-pc.gov.uk or come along to a council meeting and ask your question in person, we always welcome public participation. We can then arrive at an action plan which is acceptable to the villagers and is in the very best interests of Beer.
Thank you. We will keep the electorate informed of every move from here.
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Beer Parish Council invites you to come along to the Mariners Hall on Saturday, 21st February 2026 between 9.30am and 12.30pm to see photos and surveys which have been carried out by your Parish Councillors and suggestions being put forward, as to what can be done to help prolong the life of Common Lane.
Tea, Coffee and Bacon Baps will be on sale in the hall (proceeds from their sale to go to Beer Horticultural Society) as we wish to encourage residents to sit and discuss the Common Lane problem, with each other and with your Parish Councillors at the seating provided.
The pictures above show the sad loss of the road at Seaton Hole a few years ago and how close we are to a similar event in Beer. Consider what a terrible impact such an event on Common Lane would have on Beer.
The road is so close to the edge of the cliff that even a small loss of a few inches could result in a complete road closure to both vehicles and pedestrians. Cliff falls are inevitable and unpredictable even with our Chalk and Limestone cliffs. There were several such falls along the cliffs between Beer Beach and Beer Head last year.
Action taken now cannot prevent such falls, but it could help to prolong the life of the roadway. It will also make this part of the South West Coast path a lot safer for pedestrians, who at present run the risk of being hit by vehicles using this very narrow road. There is insufficient room for any pavements.
This will be an Informal Public Consultation. We will welcome feedback from Beer residents on this very serious matter and ask you to take part in this informal Pole using voting slips which will be available at the meeting. This is your chance to have your say on this very serious matter.
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Update / Information Concerning the proposed nutrient
reprocessing centre at Normans Grave
There is a lot of speculation going around concerning the proposed development. Beer Parish Council is fully aware of the situation and has been working behind the scenes for several months and will continue to do so to make sure that we are ready to make detailed comments about areas of the scheme that concern us, as and when the time comes for it to be appropriate to do so.
The present information available comes from a Scoping Opinion document produced by a consulting company called Aardvark for the applicant operators of the proposed development. As the development is officially on land under Branscombe Parish Council’s jurisdiction, it is they who take the lead, with members of Beer Parish Council working closely with them.
Since the scoping document came out there has been a great deal of activity between Devon County Council who will deal with planning consent, and many other organisations and departments, but it is not yet at a stage where public comment can be made. This, however, has come to a halt, as the document has been partially withdrawn - Aardvark, it seems, are no longer working for the operators and a revised scoping opinion document is yet to be issued by a new consulting company.
Beer Parish Council is therefore in a position where we cannot comment about the scheme, as officially, until the new scoping opinion document is released, there is nothing to comment on. One should also bear in mind that the scoping opinion document is not one for public debate, it is for the applicant to inform the relevant authority (DCC) about their plans and is used by DCC to make a decision as to how the planning process will be conducted. Only once the planning process is properly started can public comment and submissions be made.
The applicant operators, however, are hosting a drop-in information meeting at the Branoc Hall on Friday November 14th, between 14:00 and 19:00 hrs and we would encourage as many residents from Beer as possible to attend.