Cllr. David Thomas: Two pieces of good news for the Bay

If you keep up with what is being discussed in Parliament, you may have heard something about Asylum hotels and you may wonder how that affects the one hotel we have here in the Bay.  
The Immigration Minister announced that the Home Office has written to local authorities and Members of Parliament to inform them that the Government will be exiting the first hotels that have been used for accommodation of asylum seekers.  
Our letter from the Minister confirmed that they will be terminating the contract with the Esplanade Hotel in Paignton. It will no longer be used to house asylum seekers by the end of December. Residents currently accommodated at the hotel will be moving to other parts of the asylum estate.
The Home Office will continue to work with us, as they are with all local authorities, to increase the supply of dispersal accommodation in line with the regional plan allocation. This is on the basis that dispersal accommodation is significantly cheaper for the taxpayer and far less impactful on local communities. 
Moving on now to another positive announcement we made last week. I am glad to say that the work on improving the area around The Strand in Torquay will be starting this month. It is exciting to see this part of the town returning to a well-connected, high-quality, modern, and vibrant place. 
After months of planning and engaging with the local community in this area, we will finally get to witness major improvements being made. This is the first of the harbourside’s regeneration projects that will bring about significant change to the town centre as we continue to work to bring solutions forward for the other sites that had stalled.
This project has been made possible after the council secured government monies with the Town Deal Funding. It will be delivered in five phases and we have appointed Montel Civil Engineering to deliver this transformation project. Together with the contractor, community representatives and transport operators we have agreed a programme to deliver this scheme that we hope, as much as possible, reduces the impact of disruption on local businesses and the community. We will continue to look at further mitigation measures to support this area and to minimise the disruption as much as possible. Although the work starts next month, the plan is for the scheme to be fully completed in the Autumn of 2024. 
There will be a period of eight weeks in May next year where there will be a need for a full road closure. We have worked with the project team on this to make sure the impact of this is as minimal as possible and we really value your patience as we deliver these improvements for you. Please note, throughout all phases of work you will still be able to access the harbour, Victoria Parade, Fleet Walk (for permitted vehicles), and Fleet Walk car park. Pedestrian walkways, and safe crossing points will also be provided. Local businesses and car parks in and around the area will remain open, so please continue to support them while this work is underway.
Over the next month or so you will start to see the changes being made. This does mean that some of the bus stops and the taxi rank will need to be re-located. You can read more about what is happening in each phase on our website - www.torbay.gov.uk. I really encourage you to take a look and I am confident we can answer any questions you have on the scheme.  
All in all, this is incredibly exciting to have the first of Torquay’s regeneration projects starting, and I look forward to telling you about more what will follow across the bay in 2024.