Harbourside roadworks in Torquay have got under way. But claims have been made that businesses are being badly hit by the scheme.
The works are part of a multi-million-pound project to revamp the Strand, opening up a wide harbourside boulevard for pedestrians. But former Torbay Mayor Gordon Oliver fears the massive harbourside public realm project is ‘totally unnecessary and a waste of public money’, and he said businesses on the Strand were being crippled by the works and are not getting enough help.
It is yet another row in Torbay over the future of one of the most iconic streets in the Bay, following the long-running row over Torbay Road in Paignton. Now, in a leader column in our sister print title the Herald Express, the editor writes it is hard to see how major concessions can be made to traders without further extending an already long project and the hope is it does not turn into another Torbay Road.
Read the full leader column below
Another regeneration project, another row. After the Torbay Road debacle, still unsolved, this time its the work to create a wider pedestrian boulevard along the Strand that’s causing all the fuss. That area around the harbourside is the first really big regeneration project to get going in earnest in the bay, with others to follow.
Like it or not, these capital projects are by their very nature disruptive and take time. In this case work to narrow and reconfigure the road is causing major traffic delays and traders say this is having a knock-on effect on their businesses.
Former elected mayor of Torbay Gordon Oliver has somewhat fuelled the flames of discontent by declaring the work to be unnecessary and a “waste of public money”.
He has also taken umbrage that more palm trees have been felled – remember the row at the Italian Gardens recently – but his main concern appears to be focused on the manner and timing of the work, suggesting it was ill thought through.
He said: “There seems to be no consideration for the time of year that these works are being undertaken. Tied in with this road alteration is the demolition of Debenhams, which I understand will take seven months. The Strand is to be closed for the whole of May and the whole of June. Would it not have been better to have undertaken the demolition first and not combine the road scheme and the demolition?”
His other main concern is he believes the £4 million cost of the project does not take into account rising sea levels caused by climate change, which could swamp the harbourside area in decades to come. Perhaps the £4m budget did not stretch to future climate mitigations, but that’s another matter.
Torbay Council says the concerns of traders are being listened to and the work can be adapted to accommodate traders’ concerns, although it’s hard to see how major concessions can be made to traders without further extending an already long project. We can only hope this does not turn into another Torbay Road.
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