Campaigners fight to save Torquay landmark

Protests over decaying seafront Pavilion

Campaigners fighting to save a Torquay seafront landmark have called on ‘people power’ to make sure it survives.

But Torbay Council’s deputy leader today revealed that talks with would-be developers for the Pavilion are at an advanced stage and told the campaigners: “Watch this space.”

And referencing a controversial previous large development plan which was outlawed by the High Court, he stressed: “We are not going for a six-storey building, I can assure you of that!”

One of the 1,400 people to sign an online petition to save the former theatre wrote: “The Pavilion has been part of my life and is the last building of elegance in the bay.”

Hundreds of people gathered outside the building last weekend to demand an end to a decade of neglect during which it has been damaged by water getting in through the roof.

Experts said 10 years ago that temporary roofs should cover the sections where leaks were known to be getting in, but the work was never done.

The building – now listed – first opened in 1912 and operated as a theatre until the mid-1970s. After that it became an ice rink and later a shopping complex until it was closed in 2013 by MDL Marinas, who have a long-term lease on the council-owned site.

“People power prevented its planned demolition by the council in the 1970s,” say supporters of the petition. “People power is needed once more to ensure that the building survives.”

But the council’s deputy leader Chris Lewis (Con, Preston) said: “It’s no secret that we are in negotiations with MDL at the moment, and also with developers to see the way forward.

“That’s quite far down the line, and I am quite optimistic that we will have a solution for the Pavilion.”

Cllr Lewis said he could understand the frustration of the protesters, but said a potential solution was in sight.

“I hope that within the next month or so we will have something to show,” he said. “It will come out sooner rather than later.

“I have spent more time on this than on anything else since the elections.”

Paul Fraser, one of the protest organisers, said it was vital to stop the Pavilion suffering more damage while its future is decided.

“We need action, and we need it now,” he said.

Addressing protestors, Mr Fraser said: “We shouldn’t have to be here today. It should never have come to this.

“Local people and visitors have always valued this building, and continue to do so over a decade after it closed. That’s why we’re here. Because we care.”

He said the council should have enforced the terms of its lease with MDL and insisted on repairs.

He went on: “The council is talking about finding a ‘developer.’ There is talk about so-called ‘enabling development’ on the site of the marina car park to fund Pavilion repairs.

“That means a block of flats, in case there was any doubt.

“I’m not here to talk down development, which of course our town does need so long as it is genuinely beneficial to people besides the developer. I’m here because the new council seems to be getting ahead of itself.

“It’s very easy to talk about bringing in developers, but less easy to confront the real issue.

“We don’t have time for an MDL-picked developer to take their time making, amending, and submitting plans while our Pavilion sits here and rots.

“We need action now.”