Fighting fight for improvements to ‘poor relation’

MAYOR Oliver warned that tough decisions would have to be taken in Torbay if the council was ever going to find a way to make ends meet.

First the airshow was thrown to the mercy of the public, with the warning that unless sponsors and private backers come forward, the show will be grounded.

Then the Riviera Centre came under the microscope, and sure enough the council is looking for a business partner to take on the old concrete lump and make something of it for the long term.

Now the plug has been pulled on a long-awaited scheme to regenerate the centre of Paignton, the scruffy, down-at-heel, unloved area that greets visitors as they alight from their trains.

And this, more than any of the other issues facing the council, has brought home to people just how badly the government is serving local authorities.

Paignton is crying out for the kind of modest investment that was envisaged for the Station Square area. It remains an eyesore, as does the derelict Crossways centre. No amount of new building around the fringes of Paignton takes away the impression that the centre of the town is being neglected.

It would have cost £1.1m to make a big difference in Paignton. Maybe the public realm scheme would have kick-started other improvements in a town centre which cries out for them.

We will probably never know, although Liberal Democrat councillors will go into battle on behalf of Paignton when they meet next week.

They will brandish figures which show that Paignton remains the poor relation among the three towns of Torbay, and will demand that the council reins in its investments elsewhere in the country and invests in Paignton instead.

We wish them luck.