Plain sailing for Paignton windmill home plan

Controversial viewing gallery no longer a feature

The owners of a derelict windmill at the highest point in Torbay have been given permission to turn it into a home.

Permission was originally sought in 2019 for the conversion and change of use of the former Fernicombe Windmill at Paignton to a single home, with a new roof structure, a two-storey extension and a garage.

The windmill would be linked to the two-storey extension by a bridge. A viewing gallery which had been proposed in earlier versions of the plans does not appear in the latest version.

The development was finally given the go-ahead by planning officers last week.

A Grade II-listed building in Windmill Lane, it is listed as having ‘special architectural or historic interest’ by Historic England, and is thought to have been built in the late 18th century.

The organisation describes the four-storey structure as ‘disused and partly ruinous’. It was last used as a windmill in around 1860.

Historical information included in the planning application says that the mill stands at the highest point in Torbay and would once have had a rotating ‘cap’ with four large sails.

During the Second World War it is understood that it served as an air raid lookout post. It is one of five surviving windmill towers around Torbay and one of only nine surviving in the whole of Devon.

Nine people objected to the original plan, which included the viewing gallery.

One said: “Its heritage would be completely lost by turning it into a trendy lighthouse.”

But the applicants have stressed that they will use skilled craftspeople to protect what they describe as a ‘once-in-a-lifetime heritage project’.