Work begins to regenerate old shopping centre in Paignton

Work to regenerate a shopping centre in Devon begins today (28 November).

It comes after Torbay Council successfully secured the compulsory purchase order on the old Crossways site in Paignton.

From this morning, fencing contractors will start to install 160 metres of hoarding around this site.

Once complete, work will start on safely removing asbestos from the building - during this time, there will be no through access for pedestrians between Hyde Road and Torquay Road.

Councillor Darren Cowell, deputy leader of Torbay Council, said: “Like the community, we’ve waited a long time for works to begin on this project and its fantastic news that we will all start to see physical changes happen.

"For many years the site has had a negative impact on the town centre, but we are edging ever closer to developing attractive residential, retail and employment space.”

It will take around two weeks for the hoarding to be installed, after which it will be wrapped with information about the regeneration plans for the site.

The full demolition work will take place from late January and is expected to take around 30 weeks.

The council said the development will not only provide much needed housing for local people but also rejuvenate the area by attracting businesses back into the town.

In 2020, it was announced that Torbay Council had successfully secured £13.36m from the Government's Future High Streets Funding for the transformation of Paignton town centre.

Projects benefitting from this funding include Station Square, Torbay Road, Paignton Picture House, the Victoria Centre, and Paignton and Preston public realm.