Traders force Torbay Road U-turn

WATCH: council partially reopens pedestrianised street

Torbay Council will partially re-open Torbay Road in Paignton after its closure to vehicles caused a backlash from traders.

The road is in two halves, one either side of junctions onto Garfield Road and Queen’s Road, with the Vue Cinema on Esplanade Road at one end, and a level crossing at Victoria Street on the other.

Initially, Torbay intended to use £5 million from it Future High Streets Fund (FHSF) to improve the apearance of the road, but that plan changed resulting in vehicles being barred from it entirely. However the council didn’t receive the full amount it had asked for from the fund from central government.

Last February, 640 people responded to a public consultation about Torbay Road, of which 60 per cent were in favour of banning vehicles.

A pedestrian-only trial at Easter last year waspushed back to the autumn, and there is currently an ongoing six-month consultation so the council can gauge of how it is going.

Since the trial eventually began in October, traders have expressed anger that the lack of traffic is costing them business.

A survey found the majority of traders had taken a hit over the winter.

However, in a poll of 323 visitors to Torbay Road, nearly three quarters (71 per cent) welcomed the additional space and the absence of traffic.

At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday [10 January] the leader of Torbay’s opposition Conservatives, Cllr David Thomas (Preston) and Cllr Chris Lewis (Conservatives, Preston), introduced a motion to re-open the road “with immediate effect” while engaging in “ongoing dialogue” with businesses to find a compromise between their needs and those of pedestrians.

They also want Hyde Road, which is running a one-way system to control traffic, to return to two-way traffic.

Cllr Thomas claims patrial pedestrianisation is “not the answer,” and said on the traders’ behalf that the trial “simply isn’t working.”

Cllr Lewis argued that the half-closure of Hyde Road will lead to a “nightmare” for people travelling from Torquay to Paignton in the summer months because of congestion.

“They will end up avoiding the town because they won’t want to be stuck in traffic for over an hour trying to get in,” said Cllr Lewis, who added that the change to traffic routes “just doesn’t work.”

Cllr Christine Carter (Liberal Democrat, Roundham with Hyde) highlighted how the majoity of respondents to a survey said “yes” when asked if they would support partial re-opening of Torbay Road.

“We have to be democratic,” she said. “And the majority of people did look at the partial closure as being the preferred option, so I can’t see why we can’t try this for a small while, and trial this to see how it goes, and take it from there.”

Cllr Swithin Long (Liberal Democrat, Barton with Watcombe) agreed with Cllr Carter, saying that partial pedestrianisation was the idea that more traders appeared to get behind.

“My personal view is that, given the survey results – which showed a majority of traders wanting to try the partial pedestrianisation – we should try that out,” stated Cllr Long.

The cabinet unanimously agreed that the section of Torbay Road between Esplanade Road and Queen’s Drive will be re-opened to vehicles, but the other section between Queen’s Road and the level crossing is to remain accessible only to pedestrians. Hyde Road, meanwhile, will remain one-way.

A council offer predicted the changes will take up to three weeks, and the six-month consultation may have to start again now that a new trial has begun.

The attached video report is from BBC Spotlight