Plans approved for £75m hotel project in Torquay

A £75m hotel project on the seafront in Torquay has been granted planning permission.

Torbay Council put in the planning application for the development overlooking the harbour with 150 bedrooms, a rooftop bar and ground floor shops and restaurants.

Some residents objected to the plans with claims the hotel was too big and would not fit in to the surrounding area.

But the development was approved by the council's planning committee on Wednesday and the council will now work to make a deal with a developer and a hotel firm to deliver the scheme.

The Debenhams site has been empty since the store's closure in 2021.

The hotel development will involve the demolition and partial demolition of buildings along the Strand between the Yates pub and Hoopers department store - both of which will remain in place.

Torbay Civic Society objected to the plans on grounds of the size of the development and Historic England raised concerns about the impact on The Terrace, built in 1811, which sits behind the planned hotel site.

The council has already bought most of the properties on the site and has said it would consider compulsory purchase orders of the two remaining properties it does not own.

The leader of Torbay Council, David Thomas, Conservative, described the development as a "gamechanger" for the town and said funding for the scheme would come from a combination of council cash, possible grant funding and private investment.

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