Torbay Regeneration
Delivering coastal regeneration across Torbay
We have advised Torbay Regeneration Partnership since 2024 in respect of town centre regeneration sites across Torquay, Brixham and Paignton. Providing expert advice across all our services, we provide advice from feasibility stage to securing planning permission and delivery of sites.
We have secured planning permission for the redevelopment of Union Square Shopping Centre in Torquay for mixed-use residential development, the former Crossways Shopping Centre in Paignton for extra care living, and the regeneration of Torquay Harbourside through the redevelopment of the former Debenhams store and adjoining building to provide a boutique hotel, commercial units, new pedestrian connections and enhanced public realm. We have also submitted a planning application for proposals at Brixham Fish Harbour and the central car park, alongside advising on a series of brownfield residential opportunities and supporting masterplanning and visioning exercises across the towns.
Our role across the Torbay Regeneration Partnership is expanded in more detail below:
Union Square, Torquay
The proposed multi-million-pound redevelopment plan for Union Square includes demolishing the existing shopping centre while retaining the current multi-storey car park. The vision for the site includes the creation of new, high-quality homes, retail spaces, leisure facilities, public areas and an NHS centre.
This redevelopment promises significant economic and social benefits for Torquay and the surrounding area, including a revitalised town centre with an improved public realm. As part of the project, the grade II listed Pannier Market would be restored as a freestanding building and undergo a major refurbishment.
The Strand, Torquay
We have provided Planning and Strategic Communications services for Torbay Council’s redevelopment of the northern side of The Strand in Torquay, working in partnership with Willmott Dixon Developments and Milligan. A planning application was submitted for the hotel-led, mixed-use scheme in April 2026, and was approved at committee in September 2026, marking a major milestone in Torquay’s wider Regeneration Partnership journey.
The approved scheme will transform this prominent harbourside location into a vibrant, year-round destination that will strengthen the local economy and attract visitors. The scheme includes a 4 to 6-storey hotel providing 144 rooms, a rooftop bar / restaurant and active ground floor commercial, food and beverage uses bringing life back to the street.
Oxen Cove, Brixham
Oxen Cove is a proposed industrial building adjacent to Brixham fishing harbour, providing fish and shellfish processing facilities to support the expansion of the town's fishing industry. The project presents a range of planning challenges, including coastal flood risk, site constraints, complex access arrangements, the loss of public car parking, and a seawater extraction and return strategy involving multiple consenting regimes and third-party interests.
We provided planning strategy advice from project inception through to submission, co-ordinating the proposals within Brixham's wider regeneration aspirations. As a Torbay Council-led project supported by Government funding, the scheme required a robust planning approach and careful stakeholder management. The project will unlock Government investment in the local fishing industry, with the planning application submitted in September 2026.
Image credit: Torbay Regeneration Partnership – Torbay Council / Willmott Dixon / Milligan
