Jim Parker: The 'Wright' approach for Torbay's future

You have to take your hat off to people like Mark Wright.

The owner of South Devon-based holidays company Majestic Tours has been wrestling with local planners for over two years over plans to invest up to £3 million in Torquay.

His company has owned the Templestowe Hotel in Abbey Road for years and as one tiny bit of the business made it famous as the launch pad for Tinsel and Turkey breaks now enjoyed by many thousands and thousands of people. 

A couple of years ago he bought the former Genting casino building next door. The first aim of the purchase was to ensure the future of the building was in his safe hands in an area which is in need of, to use his words. an 'uplift'. 

An immediate facelift and makeover for the building was the first order of the day. Then he set about plans to spend between £2 million and £3 million on transforming the old casino into a luxury 18-aparthotel complex.

The go-ahead for the regeneration project was finally announced this week after months and months of negotiations, changes and reviews with the planning department.

Many a person would have given up the ghost and walked a long time ago, but Mark Wright believes in Torquay, he loves Torbay and he has huge confidence and wants to invest in its future.

Just 24 hours after talking to him came another confidence booster for the Bay from Whitehall as the government announced that Torbay Council was one of 75 local authorities across the country to each receive £20 million from a new Plan for Neighbourhoods and Plan for Change funding initiative. The investment was originally enveloped in a Long Term Funding Plan for Towns scheme by the previous Conservative government. When they lost the election there was a fear the new Labour mandarins would pull the plug on the proposals and cash. They did say that would not be the case and have now stuck to their word. It has been given a new name but the funding will still be spread over 10 years and aimed at improving life in Torquay.

As before, 'neighbourhood boards' will be set up to decide on where the money is being spent with the community having a major say.

The government press release confirms the South West is to receive a share of £1.5 billion to foster 'stronger, better connected and healthier communities across the UK'.

Improving High streets, local parks, youth clubs, cultural venues, libraries and health and wellbeing services will be the aim to 'create local growth and opportunities through new Plan for Neighbourhoods'.

It says: "Local people in Torquay will see their high streets revived, community hubs saved and public services transformed and strengthened through £20 million funding and support through the government’s Plan for Neighbourhoods to tackle deprivation and turbocharge growth, as every area joins the decade of national renewal committed to in our Plan for Change. "

It says ministers have vowed it will help transform “left behind” areas by unleashing their full potential by investing in delivering improved vital community services from education, health and employment, to tackling local issues like crime. Transformation will be holistic, long-term, and sustainable to deliver meaningful change in the day-to-day lives of local people. 

Each 'board' will decide how to spend up to £20 million of funding and support – they can choose from options ranging from repairs to pavements and high streets, to setting up low-cost community grocers providing low-cost alternatives when shopping for essentials, as well as co-operatives or even neighbourhood watches.  

Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner MP said:  “For years, too many neighbourhoods have been starved of investment, despite their potential to thrive and grow. Communities across the UK have so much to offer – rich cultural capital, unique heritage but most of all, an understanding of their own neighbourhood. We will do things differently, our fully funded Plan for Neighbourhoods puts local people in the driving seat of their potential, having control of where the Whitehall cash goes – what issues they want to tackle, where they want to regenerate and what growth they want to turbocharge.” 

Minister for Local Growth and Building Safety, Alex Norris MP, said: "When our local neighbourhoods thrive, the rest of the country thrives too. That’s why we are empowering communities to take control of their futures and create the regeneration and growth they want to see."   

In each area, the government will support the establishment of a new ‘Neighbourhood Board’, bringing together residents, local businesses, and grassroots campaigners to draw up and implement a new 'vision' for their neighbourhood.    

The council is now awaiting the criteria linked to the new funding package before taking its next steps. A neighbourhood board was mooted pre-election and a couple of projects under the former Long Term Funding banner were highlighted including improving the Castle Circus area of Torquay.  All that is now to play for and yet to be clarified.

One thing is clear - Torbay has been given another large chunk of government money aimed at delivering a new future for the Bay. Funding from initiatives like the Torquay Town Deal, Paignton Future High Streets and Levelling Up schemes have now pushed the overall government investment over the £100 million mark.  With a private partnership deal with developers Willmott Dixon and Milligan that regeneration kitty now tops £200 million and has signalled the start and plans for major game-changing projects throughout our three towns.

Yet through all this some are still saying the council is rubbish!

Politicians of all colours and all levels will always try to score political points. A new peace pact between Town Hall rival groups will help and at last people are beginning to look at the bigger picture. Sad scenes from the council chamber over the Standards Board rebuke for councillor Katiya Maddison need to be put into context and Katiya, one and all have to move on.

You will also never stop people criticising councils just for the sake of it. Perhaps the Naysayers in the Bay should be christened the Baysayers! 

Independent group leader Darren Cowell says: "A lot of people moan, but Torbay is a successful council. With regeneration these things move slowly. It is extremely frustrating with the challenge we had with Covid, the war Ukraine, cost-of-living and energy bills.

"I think part of the problem is that people do not understand what Torbay Council delivers especially when you look at the change of the last 15 years where we’ve lost a £1 billion in government funding. I do not think that people realise that 85 per cent of our budget is on adult and children’s services and public health Yet we are trying to deliver other services around place.

"If these people think they have the expertise, they can walk the streets and put the leaflets through the letterbox and get elected every four years."

Council leader Dave Thomas added: "I do not think it will stop people complaining in all honesty. It is one of those things, as soon as you mention the word Council. I do think that people are slowly recognising the change that we are bringing to Torbay. It’s not going to be a shattering overnight transformation. These these things do not happen like that it is a massive job, but I believe personally that we are on the right trajectory And we are making a change."

And Lib Dem leader Swithin Long said: "There has been a much better financial settlement from the government than there has been for quite some time that helps with the other stuff that’s going on. My one slight fear as that local government could mess things up slightly. Torbay is in a much better place than it has been for a while for various reasons and that is a credit to all sides."

And that is why people like Mark Wright have confidence in the future.