Nick Bye says," Burn them all down."

Well. OK not quiet. But the opposition party are acting as if he did. What he did say was,"It's sad to see you have to set fire to a hotel for a planning application to get through and move forward." This follows the fire, reported here, a few days ago the left the derelict Dorchester Hotel without much of a roof and even less chance of ever opening it's doors again as a hotel. An opposition councillor accused Mr Bye of advocating arson, personally I think he was suggesting a slightly more flexible planing department.
Torbay Council have these Local Plan areas, which seek to resist holiday accommodation being converted to residential use. To name but 3 incidents where the Planning Department have resisted have been the Clarence Hotel which stood on the main road at Torr, on the way into Torquay. Holiday makers would see this derelict hotel, what a first impression, which the owner wanted to turn into Housing Association flats but the planning department didn't want, " to lose hotel beds in the Bay." The only people sleeping in the Clarence were sleeping there for free and not adding much to the Bay's economy. Over 5 years it stood there, now it is a neat block of affordable apartments. Then there is the Queens Hotel. Derelict for at least 10 years. It's down on the Strand right in the centre of town, just the right place to put an eyesore you would think. Now adays you can't see it. Last year in a bid to make it look a bit more presentable the Council covered it with plastic sheets. Behind those plastic sheets work has just started to turn the building it to 8 high grade apartments. Which is what the owner wanted to do 10 years ago but someone kept saying "No." before eventually saying, "Well alright then." Why wait 10 years. Does some one want us to have this dump right in the centre of town just where visitors can see it and say, "I remember when Torquay had some class." Come back John Cleese, all is forgiven.
Then the Dorchester Hotel, derelict for donkeys years, owner wants to turn the place into flats. Planning department say no. So it stands empty until someones nerve cracks. Or a couple of squatters feel cold, light a fire which gets out of control so squatters, not having a fire extinguisher handy wander off, and the hotel burns down.