New plan for Paignton’s Crossways centre likely

'It will help support the local community'

A six-storey building to take the place of a demolished shopping centre in the middle of Paignton is likely to get the thumbs-up from Torbay planners next week .

The proposals for the site of the former Crossways centre are being recommended for approval by members of the bay’s planning committee.

Torbay Council and development partner Willmott Dixon Construction are behind the application, which is for residential extra care homes and a day centre. The building would be up to six storeys high with communal facilities and a cafe.

The unloved 1960s ‘brutalist’ shopping centre was finally demolished in 2024, and a short-term car park has been operating on the site since. Crossways was one of the first shopping centres of its kind when it first opened, but in recent years had become derelict and blighted by vandalism and anti-social behaviour.

The plan proposes 91 homes in two main blocks connected by a single-storey link. The Hyde Road section will feature the day centre and an outside garden area for users.

Planning permission was given for a similar proposal in 2020, but the Covid pandemic and the country’s economic downturn meant that project was never delivered.

There have been 18 objections lodged with the council’s planning department, on grounds including overdevelopment, anti-social behaviour, parking and the impact of taking a shopping centre out of the local economy.

Planning officers say there are no existing shops on the site due to the demolition, and because the site had been vacant or under-used for many years, the plan would not mean a loss of active businesses.

The report goes on: “Delivering town centre regeneration schemes will be a major cornerstone to creating a healthy, happy and prosperous Torbay, and on that basis, there is strong planning policy support for the application.”

Officers say the development will provide a ‘significant amount’ of affordable housing for people with local connections to Torbay.

Members of the planning committee will see 90 pages of detailed background reports on the Crossways project.

The application from PRP Architects, who have previously worked with Torquay’s Rowcroft Hospice, says: “The extra care accommodation will provide residents with their own apartment with the reassurance of flexible and responsive on-site care and support available 24 hours a day.

“The combination of accessible, enabling homes and care allows residents to remain independent in their own homes for longer and in most cases, for life.”

The designers say Crossways is a fundamental site for the regeneration of the town centre, as well as providing much-needed housing.

The application says: “The proposed development offers the opportunity to utilise this unique, town centre site by providing much needed accommodation and care facilities that will help to support the local community and bring a new lease of life to the heart of the town.”