Torquay's big wheel debate reignited

Will it keep turning in 2025?

The vexed question of whether the big wheel on Torquay seafront can keep on turning will be put to councillors again next week.

The Mellors Riviera Wheel next to the Princess Theatre has been a feature for more than a decade, and its owners have to apply for permission to put it up for each summer season.

Last year Torbay Council's planning committee was advised by their planning officers to turn it down because of the harm it causes to 'heritage assets' nearby, including Princess Gardens with its fountain, paths, gardens and war memorial.

That prompted an outcry, not least from the local tourist industry which said the observation wheel is an important attraction for visitors. Locals mounted a campaign to keep it, and the local MP chipped with his support.

Eventually the planning committee decided the worldwide fame of the wheel, which featured in thousands of social media snapshots and was central to a recent Bollywood blockbuster, outweighed any harm it caused.

Now Mellors are back before the council seeking permission for four more summers of the 45-metre big wheel, and this time council officers say it should be given the go-ahead.

Last year planning officers said the harm had begun to outweigh the advantages of having it there, and that it is ’alien and intrusive’.

This year they say it can go ahead, and Mellors will be spending £110,000 over the next four years resurfacing paths in the gardens nearby as a way of offsetting harm created by their wheel.

The company has already spent tens of thousands of pounds on improvements in the park as conditions of previous planning permissions.

Members of the planning committee will be considering a detailed report which outlines the pros and cons of the wheel, which comes with its own ticket office and catering unit.

Torbay Heritage Trust objects strongly while Historic England raises ‘strong concerns’. The council’s own principal historic environment officer thinks the wheel would be better in a different location.

The English Riviera BID tourism company strongly favours the wheel and Torbay Neighbourhood Forum supports it.