Over the summer, local MP Kevin Foster has been inundated with feedback from constituents and visitors about issues relating to Torquay town centre. While it is important to accentuate the positives about our beautiful local area, it is clear that everyone recognises that the town centre faces some real challenges. Kevin is acutely aware of the issues himself; he lives in the centre of Torquay and walks through these areas every day.
This is what Kevin has done in the last two weeks to address these issues:
- Met in person with a number of local shopkeepers and hoteliers to hear first-hand their issues,
- Walked around the local community to see the problems, where he’s been stopped and spoken to by a number of concerned constituents,
- Met with local residents, group leaders and local voluntary and faith groups to hear first-hand about the current challenges,
- Spoken directly to the senior police officer at Devon and Cornwall Police including the Chief Constable and the Borough Commander to relay concerns about proactive local policing,
- Met with Torbay’s elected Mayor and senior members of the Council’s executive to discuss practical improvements that can be quickly made in the area.
- Contacted and spoken with senior officers at Torbay Council to encourage practical, common sense measures to improve our town centre and surrounding areas.
This is what has resulted from Kevin’s contacts with Torbay Council and the local police:
- Graffiti will be removed from the area around Castle Circus,
- Work has begun to put in practical measures that discourage people from loitering in the Castle Circus area,
- The Council is contacting shop owners whose properties are currently empty and in a state of neglect. Where possible shop doorways will be boarded up and anti-graffiti paint will be applied
- Torquay Police have imposed a dispersal order around the top end of Torquay high street and have taken a proactive approach in challenging people who appear to be loitering there.
Kevin has also received feedback from constituents about the lack of any regular weeding of pavements and highways in the town centre and has again sought clarification from the Council and Tor2 about their proactivity in this area. Weeds give the very visual impression of an area that feels unkempt and unloved.
This is what Kevin will be doing over the next two weeks:
- Further meetings planned with local community groups and shopkeepers in the town both on an individual basis and in a group forum on the 25th September,
- Constant dialogue with the Devon and Cornwall Police at a senior level encouraging visible and proactive policing in the town centre,
- Further meetings and conversations planned with Torbay Council to monitor progress.
Kevin Foster also plans to bring all interested parties together for a larger meeting later in the year. It is clear that there is a massive amount of goodwill and commitment in our local community to make Torquay town centre a better place. What we now need is for everyone – police, council, residents and business owners – to pull together and agree on practical measures that will benefit our town centre.