Torbay balloon: an iconic error?
Paul Raybould chairman Torbay and District Trades Union Council got in touch about the local plan for Torbay, and we are behoven to quote chairman of the Torquay Neighbourhood Plan Susie Colley’s response.
She says: “If you do not like aspects of the Local Plan come along and offer alternatives to us which could be included in the Torquay Neighbourhood Plan.
“Why not come along to the Torquay Neighbourhood Plan public meeting on the 3rd December at 6pm-9pm at the Riviera International conference centre (parking free) and have your say on the future of Torquay.
“The Torquay Neighbourhood Plan is being drafted by the community for the future of Torquay alongside the Local Plan.”
Now, over to Paul:
The real let down of the local plan for Torbay is its lack of forward thinking.
The great future that envisages £175M publicly funded Third Harbour as the first feature is not just unrealistic, but a total waste of money that is only in the local plan as the elected mayor has had the pet scheme for years in his portfolio of eccentricity.
There is no time-table to rid Torbay of the pointless elected mayoral system that has brought iconic errors of a balloon on a seafront minus rent being and now a Palm Tree on a roundabout that is now making the balloon look like a great idea. To move forward this post has got to go as should 12 of 36 elected Councilors to save money on administration. Let’s face it can anyone name more than three of them?
To attract investment the local plan describes a reason to invest here is because it has a low wage economy and low union density. So invest in Torbay as we exploit our work force and do not like workers in a union to protect your rights. What a disgusting advert that is to many.
Then to build a bypass and only want to build 400 homes per year is amazing in its limited thinking. To survive Torbay needs investment, homes at reasonable cost, skilled workers and a Living Wage which is one thing that the plan has nowhere in it at all.
In conclusion in the future years Torbay Development Agency needs year-on-year targets and budget increases to match performance to attract investments from large developers. This will help more than wasting funds on pie in the sky harbour projects and make having over £100m of funds spent on the South Devon Link Rd worth that much needed link for business growth.
Housing targets need upping to 500 at least per annum on brownfield sites and the skilled workforce on at least a Living Wage of £7.45 an hour to hopefully to bring economic prosperity The Bay wants to grow in the 21st century and not look back to Bygone Days of the later 20th Century.
