Devon given millions for upgrades

Three towns benefit from dosh

Three Devon towns are celebrating late Christmas presents after being awarded millions of pounds to transform their town centres. Paignton, Newton Abbot and Barnstaple have received confirmation of the success of their bids from the Future High Streets and Towns Funds. Paignton is being promised funding for projects worth £13.3m, while Newton Abbot gets £9.2m and Barnstaple £6.5m.

NEWTON ABBOT  - The market Hall, Market Square and the old Alexandra Cinema area will include a new ‘eating quarter’, a cinema, remodelled entertainment and events venue and high-quality market space.

Pedestrian and cycling improvements for better links to shopping facilities, increased parking at Cricketfield car park, and a new cinema built on the site of the existing New Look store, with the current Alexandra cinema converted into a bar/restaurant and events venue, and the reduction of the dominance of the car in Queen Street is also in the bid.

Queen Street in Newton Abbot Artist Impression(Image Teignbridge District Council)

BARNSTAPLE - is one step closer to seeing some major improvements to the town centre after North Devon Council was provisionally allocated £6.5m from the government’s Future High Streets Fund. The bid includes ambitious plans to transform the town through the creation of a new destination in the heart of Barnstaple with the funding proposals focusing on the ‘Markets Quarter’ with four strands to the project:

Pannier Market/Guildhall/former abattoir - This strand involves the repurposing and diversification of the market into a flexible space for a more diverse and ambitious programme of markets, events and community gatherings. A new gateway through the market to the derelict abattoir will create additional studio space and further opportunities.

Boutport Street Development - This involves the development of workspace and town centre living: acquisition, restoration and rebuild of the properties into an exemplar mixed-use development and creating a vital pedestrian gateway to the town.

Queen Street access - This aspect of the bid involves the delineation and upgrade of access into the Queen Streetcar park from the main arterial route and the redesigned layout of the car park to improve legibility to the town.

Butchers’ Row and Cross Street - This strand involves the permanent pedestrianisation of the most distinctive street in our town leading to increased footfall, allowing traders to spill onto the street and connecting the historic core to our riverfront.

Artists Impression of Butchers Row in Barnstaple (Image North Devon Council)

PAIGNTON - A range of projects is set for Paignton’s Town Centre which includes new housing, much improved public space and a flood defence scheme. Around 400 new homes are expected over the next decade. 

Crossways will be redeveloped to provide more than 90 extra-care apartments, a café, retail space and a gym. Planning permission has already been given for this project. In Torbay Road, public space improvements will reconnect the town centre with the seafront and improve the experience of visitors to the town centre while at the same time supporting local businesses.

Grants will trigger long-awaited schemes including the redevelopment of Crossways and the Victoria Centre in Paignton, improvements to Station Square and the restoration of the Paignton Picture House. The overall aim is to create more homes alongside shops, leisure facilities and restaurants, increasing all-important footfall in the town centre.

Artist\'s impression of the proposed redevelopment at Crossways, Paignton (Image: Architects Design Group)