Sally Allen: These are crucial times and we need to know what’s happening

In my last column I mentioned that, as far as I was currently aware, there are still no final decisions in the shelling out of the £21.9m that the Government has handed the Torquay Town Deal. It maybe I am just not aware because the Council have not bothered to inform us; or of course, I might have missed a rather important announcement. Who knows? I don’t. Do you?
To directly quote our MP Kevin Foster from his column last week in this newspaper “One of the biggest frustrations for me over the last four years was the slow progress with getting major schemes under way which are part of the £21.9m Torquay Town Deal.
Since May 4, there has been a welcome drive from Torbay Council’s new Conservative leadership to finally get Government funded regeneration schemes under way and shovels in the ground. Our Council being focussed on delivery, not delay and indecision, and seeking to unblock planning delays is creating confidence. This is not only helping unlock further Government financial support for regeneration schemes but is encouraging private investment, which will finally start turning Torquay’s biggest challenge into an opportunity, especially in face of the continuing issues in the retail sector.”
So, where are the shovels going into the ground? Which regeneration schemes? The Conservative Council is apparently now the panacea to all our woes?? Why is it so difficult then to find out exactly what is going on?
I understood that the time was running out for apportioning the cash, or it would have to be returned to Government, but again maybe I have been misinformed. I know that I am not alone in wanting to know what is going on. The “Next Door” website for this area is awash with people fed-up with not knowing what is happening. Their frustrations, along with mine, are palpable.
For example, I have searched the Council’s website and cannot find any reference after April 12, 2023 to the Fragrance Group or the Palace Hotel site. Why? The following statement was from the last administration. “We are disappointed that the Fragrance Group’s plans for the former Palace Hotel site in Babbacombe Road, Torquay, no longer include plans for a hotel. The Fragrance Group are revising their plans because they have said that the original hotel proposal is ‘no longer economically viable’ and, as a consequence, they are now developing an alternative proposal for a further 67 homes on the former hotel site and remainder of the developable site to the south of Anstey’s Cove Road. They recently gave a presentation to the Council about the challenges they faced, after first approaching us.”
Maybe I just couldn’t find the latest information and it was my own inability to find it, but if so, it is very well hidden.
We definitely need to know what is going on with this, as in my opinion, it is a critical site in the town as is the desperate need for a 5* hotel. From my last column, you will have noted that I asked the new leader of the Council, David Thomas, sometime ago and he confirmed, that the planning permission for any further housing on this site would not be allowed on his watch.
Plus, he confirmed that the Council had not as yet received any planning application from the Fragrance Group. If these are the latest facts, then wouldn’t it be a good idea to have the website updated daily with the latest news so that us, the proletariat, can actually find out what is going on?
Probably lots of people aren’t remotely interested, but I know an awful lot of people who definitely are. I have even resorted to watching Council Meetings on YouTube to try and educate myself, but sadly I am no wiser. Also, not all the meetings end up on YouTube.
We are currently at a very important decision-making time, particularly as Kevin has highlighted the possibility of more funding being available to help regenerate Torbay. With this in mind, clearly critical decisions are going to have to be made swiftly and I sincerely hope that the public will be kept informed of every twist and turn. We deserve to be; we should be; after all it is our town and every decision made will have a huge impact on all our lives, now and in the future. So, please if you know what is going on and what our future holds, please get in touch.