Grand property at centre of care home row

HERE are many candidates for the title best street in Britain, but Cliff Road, which skirts the western edge of the Kingsbridge Estuary, in the beautiful town of Salcombe, must come pretty high up the list.

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Just a few properties can be found along this road, including Woodcot, dating back to 1797. With its amazing subtropical gardens visible over a high wall and a pedestrian footbridge linking the beautiful house and carefully managed grounds with land on the seaward side of the road, it is among the finest coastal houses in the area.

Thousands of holidaymakers walk this road every year, between Salcombe’s bustling centre and the beach at North Sands. How many realise, however, that Woodcot is currently at the centre of a major row that has put much of the town and the leading charity Age UK at loggerheads?

‘The house and grounds were gifted to the Trustees of the Plymouth Guild of Social Service Charity by longstanding Salcombe resident Miss Elizabeth Jennings in 1969. It had been her home and she stipulated that the property should be divided into 14 flats and used as a residential home for old people.

‘The Plymouth Guild of Social Service assets’ are now a part of the huge charity that cares for the elderly, Age UK. For several years the number of residents living in Cliff House has been falling and now Age UK has said it won't be taking on any more elderly people and is considering putting Woodcot and its grounds up for sale.

Cue understandable uproar.