Here are a couple of photos taken recently to show Torquay as it looks to the visitors. The top one is of the flower beds in Torre Abbey Gardens, carefully planted and tended to almost perfection.
The bottom one is of The once famous Palm Court Hotel, the world fame was long ago. What it is famous for at the moment is the burnt out shell that disgraces the sea front and the town council for their inability to actually do anything about this mess. Put it in any other seaside town that makes a living from summer visitors and this mess would be just a memory but Torquay is a 3rd World Town and has just given up. Now it sits there and is likely to remain there for at least this coming summer; and for how many summers to come.
For the 5 years before it became a burnt out shell it was a derelict dump. Closed long ago and up for sale but with no planning permission no sale. The only real difference are the 10 foot tall unpainted hoardings failing miserably to hide the fact that Torbay council would sooner hide behind rules than spend some money and tear the place down and turn it into a small park for the holiday makers to sit in. Even a car park would be better than this, then Town Hall would get some income at least.
PS. The fire was in mid December.
PPS. Please don’t let this put you of coming to Torquay, there are plenty of other attractions here to enjoy, it’s just this one blot we don’t seem to be able to get shut of.
3 comments:
Hello Bus Driver,
Yes, it's not a very nice sight, but it does indicate that SOME development at least is going on in Torbay.
For those that never venture beyond the Penn Inn roundabout (and there seems to be many around in Torbay), the rest of the country took advantage of the "boom" years in terms of progress and development. Torbay never did.
It's our turn.
PS found your website trying to find info on the candidates for mayor. Your experience mirrors mine.
The country ends at the Penn Inn roundabout as far as the government is concerned, anon.
A mayor is just a ceremonial, unnecessary expense. Without the mayor and his associated staff and expenses, we might perhaps be able to fund Occombe House or St Edmunds (or at least shore up their finances). I will be glad to see him go.
PS: With regards to the hotel -
The council can only pull down buildings which are unsafe or damaged by fire.
Hint, hint to whoever torched the building the first time round
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