Campaigners will be spelling out their reaction to the long-awaited legal report over the £200,000 Kingswear steam railway offices which were built without planning permission at a public meeting next week.

The Kingswear Action on Rail and Riverboat Development members have been given half an hour at the parish council planning meeting to explain their response to the independent legal report which was released publicly a little over a week ago.

They will be pressing the village planners to also press South Hams Council to subject the office project to formal planning application procedures.

The Dartmouth Steam Railway and Riverboat Company railway offices were built without planning permission because the company claimed that as a bona fide railway company it was exempt.

The report – put together by an outside team of legal experts commissioned by South Hams Council – indicates that the controversial office project could need planning permission and listed building consent.

South Hams councillors will be meeting at their Totnes Follaton House HQ on Thursday June 7 at 10am to listen to their own legal team and to sort out where to go from there.

The Kingswear planning meeting will be going ahead at he Sarah Rope Rooms in Church Hill, Kingswear at 7.30pm next Tuesday.

Campaign group secretary Richard Rawlins said that members would be pointing out the advice emanating from the 29 page legal report.

'We will be saying what we have always said which is we support the development of the railway station and the business but within a framework of planning procedures.'

He said that KARRD were also urging people to turn up at the Follaton House meeting.

'We want as many people as possible to see the approach being adopted by South Hams Council, its officers and councillors.'