Tony tudor
Far from resting on his laurels, Tony Tudor has been a busy bee since retiring to Dartmouth 10 years ago as he seeks to make a difference to the town he loves.
Tony has become fully immersed in local life since moving to the Dartmouth in 2011 with his wife Linda.
He spent four years as treasurer of the annual Dartmouth Food Festival, was a member of the Dartmouth Barnabus Trust for the homeless, sat on the Dart Harbour and Navigation Authority board for four years and is currently involved in drawing up the Dartmouth Neighbourhood Plan - which will help to shape and guide development in the town over the next 15 years.
It’s a varied list of roles and Tony has enjoyed every single one of them.
All take a huge amount of commitment and time, but perhaps the most intense is Tony’s position as steering group member and chairman of the Neighbourhood Plan’s infrastructure topic group.
“I got involved because I was very concerned at the way I saw Dartmouth being taken over by second homes, which were really there for investment,” Tony said.
“They were either there because somebody had a little money and wanted to put it somewhere safe but they never intended to live here, or they were looking at a holiday letting.
“Of course, with both of those situations you don’t have anybody who is here for long periods.
“Dartmouth does have a very good community, it’s a nice mixture including people who are doing real work and people like myself who are retired but active.
“It’s good to make sure that the town preserves that sense of community and has a sustainable future.
“If you get too much in the way of temporary residents a lot of things start getting difficult such as schools, healthcare and policing.
“It’s quite a radical problem and it is becoming more of an issue.”
To help tackle this problem, the neighbourhood plan contains the ‘Principle Residence Clause.’
Tony explained: “The basis for any neighbourhood plan is the use of land, so if in the future somebody wants to build a new residential property it can only be a permanent residence, not a second home or a holiday home.”
Dartmouth’s Neighbourhood Plan is now out for consultation and in due course will be put out to a local referendum. If it receives the thumbs up from the majority of townsfolk it will be adopted.
Tony’s background has stood him in good stead for the various voluntary roles he has enjoyed in the town.
“I have a few skills from my working life,” he said.
“I was a commercial lawyer but involved in a lot of educational and charity work.
“I’m used to working with groups who are very diverse, with people with all sorts of different interests.
“I am also a trained mediator which comes in handy if you are trying to balance different approaches and saying ‘well, what’s the one which is the most acceptable to most of us or to everybody’.
“Hopefully, it’s everybody but you will get differences of opinion and it’s very often negotiated down to something that is delivering something which is worthwhile, but at the same time carrying others with it so people will support the ideas.
“I like solving problems,” he chuckled.
The best bit of the Dartmouth Food Festival for Tony was the children’s section of the event.
“It was for the local kids and the schools. It was lovely,” he said.
“We had fun, that was the key thing, but we also had to deliver something and make it work because it’s a huge enterprise.
“It’s a great thing and it’s put Dartmouth on the foodie map, that’s for sure.”
Tony comes from a family of Devon fishermen and lifeboat men and is passionate about the River Dart, which is why he became a member of the harbour board.
“It was an interesting four years,” he said.
“The harbour authority is a business in itself with a full range of things that it has to do by law.
“Communication by both the staff and board with the public is very important to seek input and show that you are always prepared to listen.”
During his time with the Dartmouth Barnabus Trust, Tony drew up the charity’s constitution, but what gave him the greatest pleasure was helping to make life a little easier for the residents.
“They have a lot of basic provision but it was trying to provide something a little extra – silly things like a television licence and internet connection which made their lives, hopefully, a bit more pleasant.
“We also did things like buying Christmas lunch ingredients. They would cook it, which was rather nice because they got together as a group then, a big family.
“The idea was just to improve the quality of life as far as those people were concerned, which I think is absolutely essential.”
Now that the neighbourhood plan is in its final throes what will Tony find to do next?
“Have a rest,” he laughed.
“I am sure I will find something else which will amuse me. I’ve got a small motorboat and I’m looking forward to playing around in that a bit.
“There are various ongoing projects or issues which people raise and it’s quite nice to be able to help if you can.
“I find there are all sorts of interesting people in Dartmouth and there are so many things you can get involved with in the community. It’s a great place to live.”
First published in By The Dart Magazine in October 2021
