Go ahead for Debenhams to make way for new harbourside building and public square

Torquay’s former Debenhams site has been approved for redevelopment as part of a plan to breathe life back into the Bay.

The old department store will be demolished to make way for a new building and public square on the Strand, a development which will be partly funded by the Town Deal project to a value of £2.2 million.

The Town Deal is a £21.9 million fund allocated for investment into improving the town and its economic regeneration.

The plans, which were approved at a planning committee meeting on Monday (November 14), show a five-storey L-shaped building around a public square, all designed to increase the amount of time people spend in the town centre and help to support the local economy.

The new scheme has two major elements, both of which are designed to improve the local area.

Part one is the ground floor, which will be home to five commercial units and accessible from the Strand. These units will include a small kiosk on one side of the building.

The second part is the upper floors of the building, including the new on-site parking complete with electric car charging points, which will be accessible from the terrace at the rear of the property.

Floors one to four will contain 16 residential units in the form of two-bedroom flats, four of which will have a view out over the harbour. The roof will be home to a garden space that will increase the biodiversity of the site by 104 per cent.

The sustainability of the building continues into the heating, which will be supplied by an air source heat pump providing hot water to the building.

The site has been identified as 'unsuitable' for affordable housing; however, it is a condition of all residential plans that 15 per cent of new residential builds be affordable housing. Therefore, a Section 106 contribution will be made with a value of £259,200. Section 106 contributions are designed to ensure the correct amount of affordable housing is available in the area and the contribution will go towards providing this housing off-site.

The building will also be part of a scheme involved in crime prevention, with preventative measures such as CCTV being a condition of building on the site.

Cllr Swithin Long, who spoke on behalf of the plan said that 'judging by my inbox, local residents are keen to see work starting on regenerating this part of town.

Leader Steve Darling added the town needs to see 'positive change around the harbourside' and that the council should ensure they are 'giving the green light for this change' and put their 'best foot forward'.

The plans were approved unanimously by the planning committee.