£54m renovation project's start date earmarked

Work to turn a former shopping centre which has been described as a "blot" on a town centre's landscape into supported housing could begin later this year.

Cabinet members at Torbay Council backed the project to build 91 extra care housing units and a day centre at the Crossways site in Paignton, which was demolished in 2023.

The council said it hoped to start work on the £54m project in September, but it would be dependent on funding from the government's Homes England organisation, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Council leader David Thomas said without the funding, the project would be "dead in the water".

Extra care housing units provide accommodation to elderly or disabled people with access to on-site support.

Thomas said the area had sat as a brownfield site for far too long and he hoped the development would "bring life back into the town centre".

"This is just the kind of ambitious project that local government should be delivering when the private market will not," Thomas added.

"This site gives us the chance to do something really valuable for Paignton and for Torbay."

Chris Lewis, the council's deputy leader, said the project would be a welcome addition to Paignton.

He said: "The end is in sight.

"Crossways has been a blot on the landscape for too long."

Crossways was built in the 1960s before being demolished in 2023, a year after its last shop closed.

Since being demolished, the site has been used as a short-term car park which is due to close in September.

The cabinet was told one of the first stages of the project would involve South West Water diverting a sewer, which could take six months and mean roadworks on Hyde Road.

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