By post: Brixham Town Council, First Floor, New Road, Brixham, TQ5 8TA
To ensure that all representations are accurately recorded and considered consistently, comments must be submitted in writing.
All comments received during the consultation period will be considered before the Plan is finalised. A summary of representations and the Council’s response will be published as part of the Consultation Statement accompanying the submitted Neighbourhood Plan.
Torbay Council, working alongside its regeneration partners, Willmott Dixon and Milligan has published the Brixham Town Centre Place Vision—a strategic document designed as a marketing and investment tool to attract funding, investors, and development opportunities into Brixham.
Over the past year, Torbay Council has collaborated with stakeholders, including Brixham Town Council, to ensure the vision reflects the town’s current needs and future aspirations. It draws on key planning frameworks such as the Brixham Neighbourhood Plan (adopted in 2019) and will be updated annually to remain relevant and responsive.
The Place Vision sets out a clear ambition to position Brixham as a vibrant coastal community that blends its historic fishing heritage with modern amenities, creating a thriving environment for residents, businesses, and visitors. It will serve as a powerful tool for marketing and investment, enabling Torbay Council and its partners to showcase opportunities and secure funding for regeneration projects.
Key deliverables of the Vision
Improve connectivity between Brixham Central car park and the harbour to enhance pedestrian flow and visitor experience.
Transform South Quay car park into a pedestrian-friendly space featuring murals or a green wall, family zones, street food, seating, and expanded waterfront activities.
Create stronger links between the harbour, New Pier, and Fish Market, potentially via a new pedestrian bridge.
Upgrade Brixham Central car park and Town Square bus shelter as a welcoming and accessible gateway to the town.
Revitalise the western end of Fore Street, addressing its disconnection from Middle Street and the harbour loop to reduce vacant units and boost retail activity.
Enhance public realm and green spaces, ensuring Brixham remains attractive for residents and visitors while supporting sustainable growth.
Cllr Chris Lewis, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Place Development and Economic Growth, Torbay Council, said; “This vision is about recognising and unlocking Brixham’s full potential. By setting out a clear and compelling framework for investment, we aim to give confidence to partners and investors that Torbay has a deliverable plan—one that will bring real benefits to the whole community.”
Stuart Harris, CEO of Milligan, said; “The time and care invested in developing this vision ensures it is a robust, strategic plan that leverages Brixham’s unique strengths while preserving its distinctive identity—creating confidence for investors and partners that this is a place with a clear direction and real growth potential.”
Chris Wheeler, Regional Head of Land Development at Willmott Dixon, said; “This vision lays the foundations for sustainable growth in Brixham—creating opportunities not just for regeneration, but for wider economic benefits such as increased employment and business development. It provides a clear roadmap for investment that will deliver long-term value for the town and its community.”
Brixham is not the only town benefitting from a new place-shaping vision. In July, Cabinet formally adopted the Torquay Vision, and most recently the Paignton Vision in November.
The visions have been made possible through funding awarded to the council by One Public Estate, enabling the creation of a comprehensive place vision under the banner of ‘Transforming Torbay’. The councils successful funding bids since 2019 have driven the need for a cohesive strategy that aligns all investment streams, development sites, and long-term ambitions — ensuring a joined-up approach to regeneration across the Bay. The visions will be reviewed and updated annually to ensure they reflect evolving macro and micro level factors.
Before any significant changes are made, the community will have the opportunity to provide feedback on proposals through the formal planning process.
Cabinet will be asked to formally adopt the Brixham Vision at its meeting on Tuesday 16 December. The meeting will be live streamed via the councils YouTube channel, allowing residents and stakeholders to follow the discussion in real time.
Torbay Council, working with its Regeneration Partners – Willmott Dixon and Milligan are working on proposals to develop plans for two major sites within Brixham.
Brixham Port Infrastructure Project
This project will look to provide 2,550sqm of new space for the fishing industry.
The expansion of the port would create around 40 new fishing related jobs.
£9.791 million of government funding has been secured for the project.
Detailed proposals will be made public later in the spring with opportunities being available for the community to comment on the proposals as part of the statutory planning process.
The original multi-storey car park was constructed in the early 1960s, the car park suffered deterioration because of marine weathering, leading to significant corrosion of the steel frame. Despite several phases of structural repair, ongoing deterioration continued to occur resulting in the demolition of the car park in 2005.
Over recent years scheme proposals have been considered, including providing homes at the site.
Financially viable options are currently being explored for the site.
It is anticipated that options will be presented to the community later this year.
More information
Each project coming forward has been developed in line with community led plans, including the Local Plan, Brixham, Town Centre Master Plan, Brixham Peninsula Neighbourhood Plan Policy Document and Torbay’s Heritage Strategy.
A project to transform Brixham’s town centre car park will get the lion’s share of a £1m Government funding handout.
A long-running housing project in Torquay will also get off the ground as a result of the money from the Brownfield Land Release Fund.
Torbay Council and its development agency the TDA submitted the successful bid for the cash, which was announced today.
It means work can begin on developing homes in the heart of Brixham, where numerous projects and schemes have been proposed since the demolition of the multi-storey car park 17 years ago.
Ground work will also start on a development of 78 ‘assisted living’ homes at Torre Marine in Torquay.
“This is fantastic news,” said Torbay Council leader Steve Darling.
The aim of the fund is to help councils use surplus land for housing, as well as making better use of public assets.
Brixham has been awarded £675,000 to initiate plans to redevelop the town centre car park.
Since the demolition of the car park in 2004, various schemes have been considered for the site. The council says it hopes the funding can kick-start a project for up to 70 residential units on the site with no loss of parking.
The council says the project will ‘address the aspirations of residents’ by creating more affordable housing in the area.
It follows Brixham’s Town Centre Regeneration Strategy as well as the Brixham Neighbourhood Plan, Torbay’s Community and Corporate Plan and Torbay’s Housing Strategy.
The next steps include working on the details with partners in Brixham, including the town council.
Building work could start in early 2023 and be complete a year later.
The site at Torre Marine has been awarded £415,000 for groundworks. It has been the subject of various planning consents over the years, but none of them has been completed.
The funding will be used to try to overcome the previous issues, making way for the home which would be maintained and managed by a registered provider.
Torbay has a waiting list for such specialist accommodation, and the council’s own housing company Tor Vista would manage the project.
Work could be completed by mid-2023.
Cllr Darling said: “It is fantastic that Torbay has been awarded this funding to allow us to hopefully accelerate the development of these two key sites, if initial investigation works go to plan.
“In Torbay this summer we have seen record numbers on our housing waiting list and a severe shortage of care accommodation.
“The lack of housing supply has created a housing crisis in Torbay, therefore a project to accelerate the building of new housing is great news for our residents and local community.”
Deputy leader Darren Cowell added: “It is exciting to be awarded this funding and be able to hopefully release the land to accelerate and deliver this much needed accommodation.
“These projects once approved, also provide us with an opportunity to buy better and support our local economy as it recovers from the pandemic.”
There is a vote taking place on the neighbourhood plan at the same time as the local elections. The neighbourhood plan has nothing to do with Torbay Council or politics. Rather, it has been written by our local community for our local community.
The neighbourhood plan is important because it will determine what development does or does not take place in our area over the next 10 years and beyond.
Reasons to Vote YES:
– Protect Local Green Space.
The Brixham Peninsula Neighbourhood Plan provides long term protection for 16 important local green spaces in Brixham (see list below). Spaces protected include the Berry Head nature reserve, Furzeham Green, Jubilee Gardens, Astley Park, St Mary’s Park and many other local green spaces valued by our community. The Torbay Development Agency has confirmed these spaces are under threat from development if the Neighbourhood Plan does not go through. If you want to protect our area’s most important local green space vote YES.
– Affordable Houses for Local People.
The Brixham Peninsula Neighbourhood Plan requires all new affordable houses to first be offered to people in need with a local connection before being offered to those in need from outside the area. Brixham was rare in successfully being able to argue for this policy and the reason why this policy has been allowed is because many local industries have skilled jobs which are not necessarily well paid, such as some jobs in Fishing, Agriculture and Tourism. If you want to help our young families get their own home and stay in the area and protect our local industries by ensuring skilled workers on lower incomes can find homes vote YES.
– Regenerate existing urban sites. Protect open countryside.
The Neighbourhood Plan introduces a ‘settlement boundary’ policy and a ‘settlement gap’ policy. These protect open countryside and and focus development on the regeneration of existing sites in the urban area, such as the derelict North Cliff Hotel site or the former Jewson’s builders merchants. If you want to regenerate our towns while protecting open countryside vote YES.
– Promote local businesses and increase jobs.
The Neighbourhood Plan identifies areas for businesses to grow and create jobs, particularly around Brixham Harbour. There are also specific policies to assist Tourism, Fishing and Agriculture and ensure land currently used for employment is protected for employment. If you want to ensure there are dedicated areas to help local business create local jobs vote YES.
– Improve Brixham Town Centre.
The Neighbourhood Plan includes a Brixham Town Centre Masterplan which covers the both the town centre area and Oxen Cove / Freshwater. This reflects the key points from extensive consultation:
– retain / improve car parking, perhaps consider multi level car parking.
– provide a mixed development (i.e., not just shops) to draw people people into the town as a place to visit.
– ensure development retains the character of the town through buildings of appropriate scale and appearance.
– promote job creation in Oxen Cove and Freshwater areas but protect tourist and resident amenity.
If you want to ensure that the things local people say they want in our town centre are reflected in any future development vote YES.
