Ice rink plan for Torbay Christmas celebrations

'Shopping list' follows £350,000 town hall underspend

Torbay could be in line for a Christmas ice rink this year as the Bay of Lights experience gets bigger and better.

The rink is on a shopping list drawn up by councillors in response to some careful budgeting at the town hall.

The authority ended the year with a surplus of £350,000, and now members of the cabinet have come up with a list of ways to spend it. The ice rink is just one in a long list that is likely to get the go-ahead from the full council next month.

The cabinet heard that various council departments had contributed to the underspend in the fourth quarter of the last financial year.

Cllr Alan Tyerman (Con, Churston with Galmpton) said the money is a ‘tiny proportion’ of the council’s overall budget. But, he added: “To have an underspend shows very good budgetary control throughout the organisation. For several years things have looked comfortable in Torbay’s accounts, and long may it continue.”

The list of potential projects includes surveying community centres, tackling weeds and putting more money into adult social care. It also proposes a community-focused ‘blitz’ to tidy and improve the Castle Circus area of Torquay and money to encourage new start-up shops and businesses.

And, said Cllr Jackie Thomas (Con, Kings Ash), more money could go towards the festive Bay of Lights project, which already includes a seafront illuminations trail and a spectacular light show at Torre Abbey.

“An ice rink would very considerably increase our winter wonderland experience and encourage more footfall into our bay,” she said. “This is a very exciting addition to the Bay of Lights offering.”

Cllr Darren Cowell (Ind, Shiphay) welcomed the ideas and the bay’s ‘sound financial footing’, but urged colleagues to look beyond town centres and seafronts to spend some of the money in other local communities.