Anger as three-month Torbay road closure approved

Torbay Council has signed off an agreement to close the main road in and out of Brixham for three months.

The council said refusing Persimmon's application to shut Brixham Road in January for highways works could lead to a £2.5m bill from the developer.

Torbay MP Kevin Foster said council leadership was "blame-shifting", having delayed listening to the community.

Persimmon Homes apologised but said building the Inglewood development required "significant infrastructure".

The closure is to facilitate the building of 373 homes, a primary school and a pub as part of the Inglewood development.

The agreement means Brixham Road will close from Windy Corner to the junction with Goodrington and Long Road from 3 January until 30 March.

There are also plans for improvements to the Windy Corner junction in May and June, and to the Long Road and Goodrington Road junction from late September to December 2023.

During consultation last month, residents spoke out about the disruption works could cause.

However, Torbay Council said on Wednesday that they had "reluctantly" signed the Section 278 agreement.

The council said it was "legally obliged" to enable the highways works to "facilitate the development" which had been approved by the Planning Inspectorate in April 2021.

It said going against planning permission granted by the secretary of state could lead to a £2.5m bill for damages from the developer.

Torbay MP Kevin Foster said the approval would impact residents and the economy.

He said council leadership had attempted to "shift the blame" but that it had had to be "pushed to listen to the community" and delayed gathering evidence to build a case against the closure.

But the council said it had sought independent advice from engineers and legal experts and gathered evidence to limit disruption.

Councillor Steve Darling, council leader, said once an application had been approved at national level, the planning system was "stacked against local communities and the council", and in favour of the developer.

He said keeping one lane open was not "technically possible".

A spokesman for Persimmon Homes apologised for the inconvenience but said building 373 homes required "significant infrastructure"

He said they had responded to local concerns where possible and had purchased land to speed up works and paid for extra bus services.

Long-term benefits included "extensive" highways improvements, a new primary school and a £2m contribution to the council and local area, he said.

He said 120 new homes would be social housing and they would ensure works were completed as "soon as possible".

Follow BBC News South West on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].