Torquay harbour Pic geograph by Derek Harper
Improving Torquay Harbour
Torquay harbourside is gradually losing its unwanted ‘trouble town’ tag as a hotspot for crime and anti-social behaviour.
New up-market restaurants and bars around the harbour have improved an area which was once famous nationwide for stag and hen parties, drunken brawls and vandalism.
Now there are hopes that the area could eventually be taken out of Torbay Council’s highest level of licensing scrutiny.
The Strand is one of two Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) areas in Torquay – Castle Circus is the other – where a large concentration of bars, pubs and clubs have created a crime, disorder and nuisance hotspot over a number of years.
The council has a policy which allows it to refuse any more drinks licences in the two areas in order not to add to the problems.
Members of the council’s cabinet committee discussed the current CIA arrangements and looked ahead at the future of the two trouble spots.
The Castle Circus CIA runs from Trematon Avenue through Castle Circus and down to Market Street. The harbourside CIA includes Fleet Street and Torwood Street up as far as Torquay Museum.
Police say Torquay’s night-time economy is ‘large and vibrant,’ but analysis shows 1,594 relevant crimes took place in the CIAs during the five years up to March 2022, the vast majority of them between 7pm and 7am.
Sexual offences were more likely to happen at night, according to a police report to the committee.
After dropping significantly during covid, crime figures came back to pre-pandemic levels.
Members of the cabinet, who are legally obliged to review the CIAs regularly, decided they should continue.
Deputy council leader Chris Lewis (Con, Preston) proposed the move, and said the council could also consider imposing Public Service Protection Orders to stop people openly drinking in the streets. And former elected mayor Nick Bye (Con, Wellswood) added: “The important thing is that the police are asking us to continue this. There has been an extensive consultation and the police are very much supporting this.”
And, he said, the Strand and the harbourside were gradually getting better.
“Over recent years, I would say the harbour and Strand area is much calmer. There has been a movement towards more eating establishments than drinking establishments. It may be in the future that we might not need to have this policy at all, as we work towards a much more family-friendly environment.”
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