Bay-wide pledge for lotto cash pot

Each of Torbay’s three towns can expect a fair crack of the whip when it comes to bidding for a share of tens of millions of pounds in lottery cash.
When the National Lottery Heritage Fund announced that the bay had been chosen to receive a share of £400million to “inspire communities, revitalise economies and build pride in place,” many people assumed the money would go to ‘big ticket’ projects like restoring Paignton’s Oldway Mansion and the Pavilion at Torquay.
The restoration of Oldway will cost up to £40 million, while the Pavilion is also falling into an expensive state of disrepair.
But council leader David Thomas (Con, Preston) said the money would be targeted at projects across the whole of the bay.
He said: “This is great news for Torbay, but I have had people in Brixham asking if there is anything in there for them, or is it all aimed at Oldway?
“This is a Torbay heritage lottery fund and it is for the whole of the bay. We’ve got to make sure we don’t assign this money in our heads to a particular scheme. That’s not what it has been given for. It’s a fantastic opportunity, but we’ve got to remember that it’s a whole bay-wide fund.”
However deputy leader Chris Lewis (Con, Preston) stressed the council is committed to finding a solution for Oldway.
He told a meeting of the council’s Oldway steering group: “We are passionate about the place. We want to move forward and we will move forward. Oldway has been empty for too long.
“We’ve got the heritage fund and the levelling-up fund behind us in Torbay. There are other projects, but to my mind we need to get started with Oldway, and we will do so.”