Dave Thomas: We’re working hard to create towns we can all be proud of

February is the month where we set our budget for the next financial year and it also gives us the opportunity to reflect back on the proposals that were made at the start of this year’s budget.

Last year we announced as part of our first budget we would set up two operations that focused on how we can improve the Bay and help you feel safe. These were called Operation Town Centres and Operation Brighter Bay. I wanted to use this week’s column to share what has happened in these two areas over the past 10 months.

Starting with Operation Town Centres, working with the  local police and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, a lot of joint work has gone on in this area. This has included the introduction of the public space protection orders and improving the areas in our town centres by SWISCo. 

We have also shared more about the work of some of the council teams involved in keeping you safe. This has included introducing our town centre officers, CCTV team, anti-social behaviour and rough sleeping teams and our street marshals.

With regard to outcomes over the past year, over 390 public space protection orders were given out in Torquay and Paignton around the use of alcohol in the town centre. Over 60 dispersal orders were also handed out across the two towns.

Our CCTV team has been an integral part of helping keep our town centres safe. We have installed additional cameras across the Bay and with this the team have directed and supported the police with stopping criminal behaviour.

A recent example is where a CCTV operator spotted two men who were believed to be involved with high-value thefts in Torbay. They alerted the local policing team, who stopped them and seized more than £1,100 worth of stolen goods. They will appear in court in March.

With the extra investment into Operation Town Centre in next year’s budget, the teams will continue this excellent work. The funds will also be used to widen the work of the enforcement team, enhance CCTV operations and bring forward a new town centres manager, who will work in all three towns. 

On to Operation Brighter Bay, this was our commitment to make real improvements to our public spaces across Torbay. We hope you’ve noticed the improvements that have been delivered over the last year.

These have included increased grass cutting of verges in your local areas, main routes in and out of the Bay and in our parks. 

There has also been increased weed control with additional staff and equipment active tackling these up to seven days a week. You will also have noticed an increase in the number of floral displays, flower beds, hanging baskets and barrier planters.

We have provided new funding for the team at SWISCo to improve road surfaces and re-paint the yellow lines and boxes and white lines on junctions. 

Staying with highways, from our conversations with you, we understand that potholes remain a key concern. Over the past 10 months SWISCo have increased the amount of pothole and carriageway repairs by 20 per cent. 

Through Operation Brighter Bay, Brixham has also seen a boost to the street cleansing team with additional staff and equipment. This team is now out and about anything between five to seven days per week, depending on the time of year. 

Included in this year's budget we have increased the funding to Operation Brighter Bay and Operation Town Centres. 

We remain committed to improve highway quality throughout 2025 and this includes more grass cutting, keeping kerbsides weed free, improving road markings, cleaning our town centres and pothole repair.

As you can see, there is a lot of work taking place and how important it is to us that we create a place that everyone is proud of. We can’t do this all on our own, but together with all our wonderful community and voluntary groups, Friends of Parks groups and individuals who also want to have a place that looks good, we can all make a difference.