Torbay Road in Paignton is set to benefit from a series of street scene enhancements, elevating the town’s key route to the waterfront.

Working alongside SWISCo and engagement with the local business community, a series of street scene enhancements will be delivered to improve the overall visitor experience on Torbay Road. Funded through the Future High Streets Fund, these upgrades will help declutter the area, refresh outdated infrastructure, and elevate Paignton’s main route to the waterfront—bringing it in line with the quality and presentation already seen in Brixham and Torquay.

Conversations with local business owners and Paignton Chamber of Commerce show strong support for the planned enhancements. Many have welcomed the changes, noting that even small upgrades will make a significant difference by bringing brighter, more modern infrastructure to the area.

The planned improvements include:

• Removing trees and stumps that are not growing or thriving, along with redundant feature lighting.
• Rationalising and removing redundant street furniture such as poles, bollards, and signage.
• Installing infrastructure for hanging baskets and adding seasonal planting to bring colour and vibrancy.
• Carry out a deep street clean and clear out Ako drains and connections into the main surface water drainage.
• Upgrading and repainting existing street and highway infrastructure such as Manchester bollards, lamp and lighting columns.
• Painting of canopy columns and frames to bring a consistent colour palette to the street (subject to strong buy in and consent from property owners).
• Installing new benches, planters with palms and talking Big Belly bins.

Work on these improvements is scheduled to begin after the February half‑term, with the majority of works due to be completed ahead of the Easter holiday period. The work is anticipated to cause very minimum disruption to businesses and users of Torbay Road.  

Cllr Chris Lewis, Cabinet Member for Place Development and Economic Growth, Torbay Council, said; “The street scene improvements along Torbay Road are long overdue. By decluttering the area, deep cleaning, replacing tired bins and benches with high‑quality new pieces, and introducing vibrant planting, we’re bringing Paignton’s main visitor street up to the same standard as our other waterfront areas.

“There is a huge amount of work happening across Paignton right now—restoring key buildings, preparing sites for future redevelopment, protecting homes and businesses, and improving our waterfront areas. We understand that some people feel progress isn’t visible, but in reality, Paignton has more active project sites than anywhere else in the Bay. Change of this scale is complex and can be disruptive, but the long‑term benefits will be felt by the whole community”.

The Future High Streets Fund was awarded to Paignton in late 2020 to support major infrastructure improvements, deliver new homes, and strengthen the town’s cultural offer. Since then, several significant projects have moved forward. The restoration of Paignton Picture House is well underway and on track for completion later this year. The Paignton and Preston Waterfront project is currently on site, with completion expected in spring 2027. Work to transform Crossways into 91 affordable extra‑care homes and a new day centre is also progressing, with construction due to begin this autumn. In addition, funding is being used to prepare the Victoria Centre for new homes and future health services. The project to enhance Station Square, originally part of the Future High Streets Programme, has been paused and will now be incorporated into the wider Paignton Gateway project. This approach brings the proposed multi‑storey car park around the library area together with transport and access improvements, enabling the work to be delivered in a single phase and reducing disruption for the local community.

The community‑led Future High Streets programme has been a key catalyst for the adopted Paignton Town Centre Vision. This vision brings the funded projects together and evolves them into a longer‑term, cohesive plan that better connects key sites for the benefit of residents, businesses, and visitors.