Great Western Coffee Shop

This may come to the fore soon as a new Torbay council forms; Clark Osborne the owner of Torquay United is expected to unveil new scaled down plans for the land by Riviera Way on a former refuse tip designated for sports and community use known as Nightingale Park.

Plans for the station were approved by Torbay Council on the 27 November 2016 for the construction of a new railway station to include the following: Two single sided station platforms, provision of a footbridge between platforms, elevated walkway and access ramps, cycle spaces, extended footpath along Riviera Way, lighting and CCTV, and platform furniture to include shelter and signage . The proposed development to which the application relates is situated within 10 metres of relevant railway land (P.2016/0078).

The approval expires in November unless a shovel is put into the ground so this might concentrate minds.

https://www.torbay.gov.uk/council/policies/transport/local-transport-board/edginswell/

Edginswell is being put forward again in the next round of New Stations Fund

^That application failed but Torbay are having another go taking into account recomendations.

https://www.torbay.gov.uk/news/pr8074/

Dated 17 June 2020 now with lifts instead of ramps. Old plans out of time so a new planning submission will have to be made. Maybe hoping for the nod this time before submitting new plans.

So how much will that bump the cost up?  And then the locals won't like the plans because the lift towers are overbearing and an eyesore.

It was the 2016 bid that failed.  This new one good to see. 

Torquay has been awarded ?22m to transform the town centre converting redundant shops to offices and homes. The council had already abandoned half the shopping areas as non viable before the Covid epidemic. Some of the money is also going towards Edginswell Station. Probably to consultants as the new plans have not been published. The old approved plans expired November last year.

From the article;

It means work can begin on 'once in a generation' schemes including getting the seafront Pavilion back up to standard where it can be taken on by a developer, and supporting the building of a new railway station at Edginswell.

Today's funding comes after a 'down-payment' of ?750,000 awarded recently for projects including seafront lighting, Princess Gardens improvements and work on Upton Park

Paignton has bid for up to ?19m from the separate Future High Streets Fund.

Note: the ? sign keeps changing to a ? depite trying to modify it.

Well, I know West Ham don't play there now but that's a long way for Torquay to travel for their home games...  ;D

As more info is coming out; most of this money is going to be swallowed by planners and consultants to bring in private money. They hope.

The 5* Palace Hotel alone is costing ?60m and that is private money which the council sailed through planning as they couldn't believe their luck. The same private money is building three other hotels in Torbay (?60m again) and others throughout the country.

It is a fact that all the council schemes, such as small road widening schemes, housing, rely on funds from Government quangos. Another tier of civil servants that add to the cost in the name of efficient spending of tax payers money.

From Torbay Council (https://www.torbay.gov.uk/news/pr8239/)

The previously approved (2016) plans expired November last year. The new plans not yet published include lifts and stairs instead of ramps. They must have realised they were a skateboarders paradise.

They have ?8m from yesterdays announcement and ?1m from the ?22m Torquay received from the town deal fund. But the way Network Rail cost things, will it be enough?

I shall be watching Torbays planning portal.

?8

Construction to start in Spring 2022 according to this DL article from today.
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/torquay-two-railway-stations-just-4972931

Dave

Still no revised plans. Edginswell will probably be busier than Torre with the number of houses built and still to be built nearby, the hospital, the Willows shopping, and a possible stadium for Torquay United although the council seem to be favouring solar panels on the possible site, a former tip and designated for sports use.

As for the number of stations, Torquay's has a population at 65,000+ for three stations against Exeter's 128,000+ soon to be 9 and 10 if Monkerton is also built. Exeter's population will overtake Torbay (134,000) in the next 10 years.

Back in the news; old news but funding confirmed.

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/torquay-getting-third-train-station-6231194?IYA-mail=be50fd84-bdfd-4701-9bc8-10ad76bdfcb3

Still no plans with lifts have yet come forward. Old approved plans with ramps  expired long ago. Planned to open in 2023.

An aside. Torquay lift installation have still not begun

https://www.torbay.gov.uk/leisure-sports-and-community/regeneration/edginswell-station/

Update from council. Put back a year and still the same cost??

The financial cost of delivering the station is £13.1 million using £3 million of Town Deal funds. This will be matched with:

Council funds
Section 106 contributions
Local Transport Capital Funds
New Stations Funds (£7.8 million received in November 2020)
We aim to submit planning in the Summer of 2022
Construction should start in the Summer of 2023
The new station will be open and running by the end of 2024

Delayed again by a year to 2024/25. Council has no money because of rising costs. The government 7.8m has been in the bank since November 2020. Still no new plans due this summer.

New plans gone in 22 August 2023 for the new station with lifts.  P/2023/0708. Let's hope they haven't lost the money; probably not enough now.

Devon Live have an update on Edginswell Station.  Still in the running but looks like familiar issues and delays experienced by other lines/stations are being felt there too.

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/new-torquay-gateway-train-station-8694751

Devon live still using the image from the 2016 scheme with ramps that expired in 2019. There are no images of the new scheme, other than plans and elevations, with lifts yet.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53138542780_89daae00bd_z.jpg)
Kingskerswell Station proposed (https://flic.kr/p/2oXEVs5) by Robert (https://www.flickr.com/photos/revupminster/), on Flickr

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53138331109_9151b18ab3_z.jpg)
Kingskerswell Station proposed.platform (https://flic.kr/p/2oXDQwz) by Robert (https://www.flickr.com/photos/revupminster/), on Flickr

Images of new station at Edginswell.  I've altered on flkr.

Edit: Markup fixed (Red Squirrel)

Comes up for planning 2pm 13 November 2023. It should pass after a lot of debate about car parking which isn't included in the application. You can watch live on the council website or later so you can fast forward the boring bits of procedure.

Planning passed the station today with one abstention. Unusually proposed by the Planning Committee chairwoman and seconded by the previous chairman. Now the money????