Plans for Port Royal: anticipating a Regeneration Board >>> of covenants and land-swapping at Port Royal

There has been a fair amount of noise created over whether or not the Ham is likely to be 'swapped' for some other bit of land to make the 'regeneration' of Port Royal a little easier:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: anticipating a Regeneration Board >>> and developing the Ham...

Five years ago, there was a lot of talk about 'regenerating' Port Royal following a 'land-swap':

Regeneration of Sidmouth’s Port Royal inches closer after £500k deal

10 November 2011 Stefan Gordon

Sidmouth Port Royal. Picture by Simon Horn. Ref Ham Sidmouth P7852-10-09SH

REGENERATION of Sidmouth’s Port Royal remains in limbo despite the landmark hand-over of a key seafront property this week.

Redevelopment of the town’s eastern seafront inched closer after the Esplanade’s Drill Hall changed hands in a £550,000 land swap deal following years of negotiations. East Devon District Council (EDDC) has taken over the ownership of the derelict premises after providing army and air cadets with a purpose-built new home off Stowford Rise.

The Drill Hall is considered a vital component in the long-awaited redevelopment of Port Royal.

EDDC invested more than half-a-million pounds in the new Cadet Centre as part of a deal with the Wessex Reserve Forces and Cadet Association (RFCA).

But the authority says there is no set timetable for any seafront re-development – and the project is at the mercy of the current financial climate.

An EDDC spokesperson told the Herald: “The council has made a £550,000 investment into the Cadet Centre as part of our plans for the regeneration of Sidmouth.

“The regeneration of the seafront is an ongoing project which has no specific timetable at the moment, and there are also many factors which will play a part in the development of the seafront including, of course, the current economic climate.

“The 475 metres square Cadet Centre has been provided by EDDC in a land exchange deal with Wessex RFCA, in return for their old derelict building on Sidmouth seafront.

“This exchange is part of EDDC’s wider plans for the regeneration of Sidmouth seafront. The future of the Drill Hall will be considered as part of these plans, enabling East Devon to realise the full potential of the area.

Regeneration of Sidmouth’s Port Royal inches closer after £500k deal - News - Sidmouth Herald

Although at the time, a comment noticed a very different slant to exactly the same story:

What on earth is going on here? 

The story above is purely a re-cycled article that was printed on page 5 of the Sidmouth Herald on 4th November but has a completely different and opposite headline banner to before. 

Last week the PORT ROYAL FUTURE IN LIMBO DESPITE DRILL HALL HANDOVER 

- and now,a week later with the same story - REGENERATION OF SIDMOUTH'S PORT ROYAL INCHES CLOSER AFTER £500K DEAL............!!! 

Last week the deal was quoted at £550,000 and this week - £500,000 - has the price of property fallen that much?

Regeneration of Sidmouth’s Port Royal inches closer after £500k deal - News - Sidmouth Herald

There has been much effort given over the years to unearthing the covenant attached to the Drill Hall - which allegedly stated that it should revert to the Sidmouth Urban District Council if the Territorial Army ceased to use it:

Vision Group for Sidmouth - Port Royal

"The action group is keen to solve the riddle of ownership of the hall. They say a covenant relating to it exists and its contents had been read to the town clerk five years ago, although its whereabouts now is unclear."
'Filthy' Drill Hall says Sidmouth Vision Group - News - Sidmouth Herald

It will be interesting to see whether the Scoping Exercise will reveal any such covenant in its search for details of ownership:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: anticipating a Regeneration Board >>> Councils approve project brief for ‘Scoping Report for the eastern end of Sidmouth’ >>> press release.
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