Plans submitted for new M&S Food store on former Paignton factory site

Paignton is getting a new out-of-town up-market food store.

Plans have been submitted for a new M&S Food outlet to be built at Long Road on the site of part of the former STC factory.

It will go between South Devon College and the existing retail park which houses the Range, Food Warehouse, Pets at Home and Costa Coffee.

The new development will also include a coffee shop.

The proposals are among the latest plans to be submitted for approval by Torbay Council.

Jersey-based applicant Devonshire Park Limited wants permission for the new retail unit, a drive-up coffee shop/restaurant, 10 charging bays for electric vehicles and a car park.

The site, which was also occupied at one time by engineering and electronics form AVX, is vacant and cleared.

The derelict Long Road site at Paignton (Image courtesy: The Harris Partnership/Torbay Council)

The application describes the 2,000 square metre M&S Food Hall as a small to medium-sized store offering ‘a curated range of predominantly own-brand M&S food products, alongside a limited selection  of non-food items such as flowers, cards, and stationery and in-store M&S café’.

It goes on: “Food Hall stores are often popular destinations, known for their exceptional quality, high sourcing standards, and market-leading products.”

Alongside the store will be another chain coffee shop similar to the Costa next door.

There is already planning permission – granted as long ago as August 2014 – for 255 homes including houses and apartment blocks on another part of the old STC factory site, which was also occupied over the years by ITT, Nortel and Bookham. No homes have yet been built on the site.

The M&S application goes on: “The proposal is the final piece of the jigsaw of the Devonshire Park development.”