Torbay Council leader: Pride in our place - thanks to SWISCo team

By Cllr David Thomas, leader of Torbay Council

Managing our place is a big part of what SWISCo do.

SWISCo is a wholly owned company of Torbay Council and since July 2020, they have looked after many of our statutory duties and obligations with regards to Place.

This includes collecting your waste and recycling as well as supporting the harbour team who manage the 20 beaches across the 22 miles of our coastline.

SWISCo also have responsibility for our highways network and look after our parks and green spaces too. They also carry out work for other public and private organisations which brings in additional income to ensure we can continue to deliver these services to you.

Some of you may have already seen, and had your photo taken next to, the amazing flower crown which has recently arrived in Abbey Park Gardens in Torquay.

It was SWISCo who came up with this idea last year. They rightly point out that it’s nice to see the return to these fabulous structures that used to grace Torquay’s seafront many years ago.

Given it was the King’s coronation earlier this year, a crown seemed the most appropriate choice and many local people have already commented how they remember similar structures from the past and how good it is to see both the crown and the crest in the gardens.

I recently met with Sharon Scott, SWISCo’s parks and grounds maintenance manager, and we had a great chat about where the crown had come from and the amount of time to took to plant out and create.

The crown was created by a Cornwall-based company, Kernock Park Plants, whose portfolio includes these wonderful Insta Plant steel structures. My grateful thanks also go to Masons Kings for sponsoring part of the crown too.

Commissioned in October, the steel framework stands at three metres tall with a diameter of 1.5 metres. It took six months to build, two weeks to plant up the 7,400 plants and a further six weeks to grow them to a size large enough to cover the crown. It also has its own internal irrigation system.

The crown was delivered after the coronation due to the type of plants used and to ensure it would last the whole summer season through to autumn. The spent plants will then be given to residents.

As we are talking about returning pride in our place, I am pleased to say that by the time you read this you may have noticed that some of the existing white lines on our roads, and some of the yellow box junctions, have been refreshed.

Delivering early on a manifesto commitment, we instructed SWISCo to start this work and as you travel from Brixham to Torquay you will be sure to spot these sites. The first being at Strawberry Bends just outside Brixham, then more refreshing from Kings Road in Paignton to St Paul’s Church in Preston and finally on Belgrave Road in Torquay.

We understand there are many more miles of white lines that need to be refreshed but we can’t do them all in one go. Hopefully you will agree that this has been a good start.

Finally, I want to say a huge congratulations to my colleagues in the council as at a black-tie event in London last week, Torbay were named the most improved council in the country at this year’s Local Government Chronicle Awards 2023.

This recognition from the wider local government community is testimony to all the work that’s been undertaken by our staff, councillors, and partners.

For me it is all about a one team approach - working together to deliver the absolute best for our communities.

We have been on a journey of improvement over a number of years. It is that commitment and dedication that has driven the improvements we’ve seen and will continue to see in the future.