Residents and traders are being asked for their views on a £6.8m plan to create new, state of the art offices in Torquay to help attract investment into the Bay and hundreds of jobs.
 
Torbay Business Hub is part of the Castle Circus Regeneration Project, which aims to regenerate the town centre, bring council services under one roof and create major savings.
 
Torbay Council has now organised a public consultation event to display and explain plans to develop offices on part of the car park behind the Town Hall. Visitors will be asked for their feedback at the event, which will be held on Tuesday 2 March in Torquay Town Hall's Assembly Hall between 1pm and 6.30pm. Information will also be available on Torbay Council's website from Tuesday 23 February.
 
The council has approved the business case for the Castle Circus Regeneration Project and has already consulted on this proposal. The business case shows that by completing the project the council will save over £1 million a year. Feedback on the project as a whole has been mainly positive and this is another opportunity for residents to express their views, specifically on plans for new offices, before the planning application is submitted.
 
The Business Hub will create approximately 40,000 square feet of new office space and car parking. It aims to attract more businesses and inward investment to Torbay as well as create a 1000 new jobs.  It is envisaged that the opportunities will be felt Bay-wide as associated businesses and suppliers feel the benefit of new, inward investment.
 
The project has been designed with flexibility in mind so that it will appeal to a variety of office users. A number of sustainable design features have been incorporated, including maximising the use of natural lighting; natural ventilation; solar collectors and a bio-mass boiler which utilises fuels from sustainable sources. If planning consent is granted, work could start later this year.
 
Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Councillor Chris Lewis, said:

There haven't been any major private sector initiatives in the town centre in the last 20 years and this project will act as a catalyst for further regeneration in the Bay. This is the time for us to invest in our economy and it is just one of many projects we are involved in to help our town centres. This project demonstrates our commitment to attracting businesses to Torbay and creating new opportunities for our residents.
 
We now want to consult with the public on the plans for Business Hub to enable residents and local businesses to influence the final project. We had a good response to previous consultations on the Castle Circus Regeneration project and I hope that that people come along to next month’s event to inspect the latest designs and make suggestions.

Source: Torbay Council