Paignton YMCA housing project rejected

Council says no to scheme to help homeless and care leavers

Charity workers trying to set up a project to help vulnerable young people in Torbay have been left disappointed after councillors turned down their plans.

The YMCA wanted to use a guest house and a block of holiday flats in Paignton’s Sands Road for accommodation to give young homeless people and care leavers a better start in life.

But Torbay Council's planning committee decided the two buildings still had a role to play in tourism.

Cllr Anna Tolchard (Con, St Peters with St Marys) told the committee the industry is the bay’s ‘lifeblood’.

But a disappointed Si Johns of YMCA Exeter, told her: “The lifeblood of Torbay is the people who live here.”

Planning officers had recommended the committee give the go-ahead for plans for the Seacroft Guest House and the Holly-Lets Apartments in Sands Road.

Seacroft would have been nine single bedrooms with some communal facilities for young people aged between 18 and 25 with a direct connection to Torbay. They would get support finding jobs, training and education, backed by support workers.

Holly-Lets would have provided temporary supported accommodation in five self-contained units with kitchens/living rooms, bathrooms and bedrooms, along with three other bedrooms using communal facilities.

Staff would be on both sites from 9am to 10pm and on call out of hours.

Gareth Sorsby of YMCA Exeter said homelessness is a pressing issue in the bay, as is the plight of young people leaving care with nowhere to go.

“This would be the place where they learn how to be responsible individuals,” he said. “To pay their bills and to get into work.

“We believe this location is ideal. This project would be a benefit to Torbay.”

Councillors agreed that the project was worthwhile, but said Sands Road is the wrong place for it. Mr Johns warned that if the committee said no, the money for the project would have to be returned to the government, and the opportunity would be lost.

The YMCA would not be coming back to ask for a different location.

Local businessman Adam Steward said both properties still had a future in the tourist trade, and allowing the project would set a precedent for the loss of tourist accommodation.

He agreed there is an ‘absolute need’ for projects like the YMCA plan in Torbay, but the location 100 metres from the seafront is wrong.

“I hope the YMCA comes back and puts its case for a different location,” he said.

The committee heard that recent hotel developments in Paignton had increased available beds. There was a move towards reducing the number of  small hotels and traditional guest houses but increasing the quality of those remaining.

“As a principle this is absolutely brilliant,” said Cllr Adam Billings (Con, Churston with Galmpton). “But is this site appropriate?”

Cllr Tolchard praised the YMCA proposal but said Torbay needed to maintain a variety of holiday accommodation, while Cllr Andrew Strang (Con, Furzeham with Summercombe) warned that losing properties like those in Sands Road could be a ‘tipping point’.

The committee heard that the two applications for the Seacroft and Holly-Lets depended on one another, so once they had voted to reject the first one, they were left with no choice but to reject the second.