Torbay to team up with a major household name

If not spent quickly, the government money could be lost

Torbay is preparing to link up with a major household name partner to speed up massive new building schemes.

The so far un-named partner will help the council spend £35 million in government cash with the warning that it needs to be spent quickly or it could be lost.

A decision on the partnership will be taken at next week’s meeting of the council’s cabinet, where members will hear that the state of the economy means there is no time to lose.

Cllr Chris Lewis (Con, Preston), cabinet member for economic growth, said: “When we were elected in May we said we would deliver, and deliver quickly, but we can’t do it on our own.”

The new partner will help the Conservative council deliver projects under the government’s Future High Streets and Town Deal initiatives, which have seen Torquay awarded £22 million and Paignton £13 million.

Torquay’s focus will be on the town centre, with a mix of new homes and businesses in and around the Union Square area off Union Street. In Paignton the emphasis will be town centre areas including Station Square and the Victoria Centre.

The money has to be spent by March, and although time is pressing, the potential partner has not been named yet because the information remains confidential.

The bids for government cash were drawn up before the pandemic, and a combination of that and rising inflation has meant materials and construction costs have soared. This has meant long delays in getting regeneration projects in Torquay and Paignton town centres started.

A report to the cabinet says a regeneration partner will offer more capability and flexibility than the council can manage on its own.

The groundwork has been undertaken over a number of years under successive council administrations, starting with the Conservatives in 2018. Last year the council, at that time run by a Liberal Democrat/Independent coalition, took its ‘Torbay Story’ pitch to a major conference in Birmingham and made contacts with developers as well as the two partners currently vying to become regeneration partners.

Both are described as “credible developers with a strong track record of delivering complex strategic developments in towns and cities elsewhere within the UK.”

Cllr Lewis said talks had been going on throughout the summer to set up the new partnership.

“I have always said that as a local council we are not there to build. We are experts on finance, and running a council. There are other people who are experts at developments, and building those developments.

“It’s a priority of ours to get cracking.”

Cabinet members will hear that if they delay, they risk losing the funds.

The report goes on: “The presence of a credible recognised regeneration partner in Torbay will assist the council in negotiations with government, reassure the community that the regeneration plans they wish to see delivered are viable and provide confidence to funders and occupiers.”

And, it says, the council’s reputation is at risk if it misses out on the government money. Appointing a regeneration partner could stop that happening, says the report.

Torbay has been down a similar road before, but a partnership with construction giants Sir Robert McAlpine collapsed after just six months in 2011. The town centres of Torquay and Paignton were earmarked for development then, but work never began.

Cllr Lewis says he is confident this will not happen again, as the current council is more supportive of partnership working than the then-Tory council in 2011 when the bay had Gordon Oliver as its elected mayor.