Government plans to introduce regional pay rates for teachers, nurses and civil servants show the Conservatives are “intent on attacking public sector workers”, according to Torbay Labour Party Secretary Patrick Canavan.
Chancellor George Osborne announced during his Autumn Statement that the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) will explore ways to review the national pay rate, in [...]
Torbay Council’s adoption team will be holding a promotional event in Exeter on Saturday 30 July to encourage more people to find out how they can give children a new family for life.
The information event is being held between 9am and 4pm in Princesshay Shopping Centre, outside Barclays Bank in Bedford Street.
There are several children [...]
Torbay Council has scooped three coveted Green Flag Awards for Sherwell Park and Tessier Gardens, Torquay and Youngs Park in Paignton.
The Green Flag Awards for parks and green spaces are similar to the Blue Flag Awards for beaches, and are handed out annually by the Green Flag Partnership, which is made up of Keep Britain [...]
Solar panels will be fitted on several public buildings across Torbay from early next year as part of a major environmental drive by Torbay Council.
The council has approved funding for the scheme, which is aimed at saving money, generating income from the energy created, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and supporting the development of a low [...]
The Royal Navy’s amphibious assault ship HMS Bulwark – star of Channel Five’s very popular ‘Warship’ series and the Royal Navy’s Flagship – is visiting the Bay as part of an ongoing regional engagement programme next week.
The massive, 20,000-tonne ship will anchor in Tor bay on Friday, July 22 for three days. The ship is [...]
Torbay Labour Party has condemned the decision to close Brixham Coastguard.
Labour chair, Councillor Darren Cowell, has said he fears lives will be put at risk with the loss of local knowledge.
I am horrified that the Coalition government has taken the decision to close Brixham and other stations. The loss of local knowledge could lead to [...]
Cockington Court Craft Centre will host the world premiere of Henry Bruce’s Horizon Cube exhibition from Friday 22 July to Monday 29 August.
The Horizon Cube is Henry Bruce’s first piece of outdoor sculpture since his Dartmoor Chair creation, and has links to the landscape, both in the literal sense and through imagination.
Horizon Cube comprises man-made [...]
Children and adults are being invited to help create a public piece of land art at Cockington later this month.
One thousand hazel sticks will be used to create the Hazel Cloud at Cockington Court Craft Centre from Friday 22 July to Wednesday 27 July, as part of Art on the English Riviera 2011.
The sticks range in [...]
Torbay’s newly elected Mayor Gordon Oliver has today announced his Executives. The posts will now be known as Executive Leads as there will no longer be Cabinet meetings.
The appointed councillors and the portfolios are as follows;
Employment and Regeneration – Mayor Oliver
Strategic Planning, Housing and Energy -Cllr David Thomas
Tourism and Environment- Cllr Jeanette Richards
Safer Communities [...]
Local budding artists are being invited to put their creative talents to the test and make their mark on the Bay.
Torbay Council has joined forces with Creative Torbay, the Torbay Development Agency and GVA Grimley to offer young people from the Bay the opportunity to work with nationally renowned, local street artists Graffiti Workshop, and [...]
Nite Rider Scheme extended, but with a small added fee.
Torbay Council’s Foster Care Service is inviting people to take a journey of a lifetime and help a child in need at the launch of its Foster Care Fortnight at Dartmouth Steam Railway’s Paignton station.
The launch on Monday 16 May is all part of the national annual awareness Foster Care Fortnight campaign. It aims to [...]
It’s official! Torbay has the cleanest bathing waters in the country, scooping a record breaking 16 awards – more than anywhere else in the country.
For the first time ever six Blue Flags will fly high over Oddicombe, Meadfoot, Preston, Paignton, Broadsands and Breakwater this summer.
Ten Torbay beaches have also secured Quality Coast Awards for [...]
Gordon Oliver, Conservative Party Candidate was today on the 6th May 2011 voted in as the Mayor of Torbay with 12716 votes.
TalkTorbay attended the Mayoral count at the RICC until 2am on 5th of May tweeting the latest news and updates. The count was postponed until this morning for a re-count and verification. Anticipation built [...]
People of Torbay, one of these candidates is your future Mayor.
On the 5th of May it lies in your hands to make the decision who that is.
According to the statistics of the last Mayoral election only 24% of Torbay residents came out to vote for their elected Mayor Nick Bye. My personal feeling on the [...]
With temperatures in the Bay soaring over the Bank Holiday weekend, the race to become Torbay’s next mayor is also heating up as candidates lay down their political aims.
Protecting and strengthening Torbay’s tourism industry is high on the hopefuls’ agendas, but high-tech and manufacturing businesses are seen as the key to unlocking the area’s future [...]
With recently released figures showing youth unemployment in the UK approaching a record one million, will the plans for a new Castle Circus business hub help in Torbay’s effort to curb this trend?
There are estimates that the proposed £6.8 million purpose-built office building could provide up to 400 jobs and encourage Torbay businesses to remain [...]
You really could not make it up: in a month when Torbay’s unemployment, already the worst in the South West, has gone up again, Councillors not only decided to “call in” the proposals for the already scaled back proposals for regeneration on Torquay’s waterfront, they then decided to “defer”, against officer advice, the revised plans [...]
Torbay Council has announced that it is to provide a £20,000 grant to Swim Torquay, for the next 12 months, following a successful meeting with the management group of the pool.
For the last three years Swim Torquay have applied to the Mayor for a discretionary grant, totaling £58,000 towards ongoing running costs for the service. [...]
Torbay Council is to receive extra money from the Government to help it repair potholes caused by this winter’s severe weather.
The council is expecting to receive an extra £130,000 following a recent announcement by Transport Secretary Philip Hammond, who said the Government would allocate an additional £100-million to councils to help repair roads damaged this [...]
The Prison Reform Trust has congratulated Torbay Council for helping to reduce the number of children sent to custody in the Bay in 2009/10.
The percentage of custodial sentences given to young people in Torbay is at a five year low.
In a letter to the council the charity writes:
Torbay is to be particularly congratulated since the [...]
On Thursday 10th March at 2.00pm the people of Torbay and South Hams are urged to join forces in a mass demonstration of their support for the retention of the coastguard facility in Brixham. Gathering on the harbour side by the amusement arcade on south Quay at 2pm to march to King’s Quay, outside the [...]
By the time you read this, we shall all know if Torbay Council has an agreed budget for 2011/12. For those who have been following this process, you will know I made my initial budget proposals in December. Then, through January, Overview and Scrutiny Councillors together with the wider community, looked in detail at these [...]
Torbay Council is running three informal roadshows for those people who may be interested in becoming a councillor or the Mayor and who would like to learn more about the elections, which are due to take place on 5 May 2011.
The roadshows will take place at Brixham Berry Head Hotel on 2 March, 6pm-9pm; Paignton [...]
One of the hardest parts of this job is putting together proposals for the Council’s budget. This year will be especially difficult as, in common with all Councils, we are experiencing a substantial reduction in grants from Central Government at the same time as demand for services increases.
The figures are stark: for the [...]
A new plan setting out how Torbay can make the most of its superb natural environment has been published for public consultation. The Torbay Green Infrastructure Delivery Plan is being championed by Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust, Torbay Council and Natural England. Torbay residents are invited to have their say on [...]
Come and join Hele’s Angels for the Big Tidy Up!
Volunteers are needed for another Big Tidy Up being undertaken through the Hele’s Angels neighbourhood management scheme.
Sponsored by Outset Torbay, a spring clean of Hele Road, Orchard Close and Pendennis will be taking place on Saturday 22 Jan between 10am-4pm.
The event has been organised by Hele’s [...]
Dear Jim: 3 ‘mini’ essays.
Of everything which has been written in the comment book at Torquay Pavilion ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ seems the strangest remark.
Just how much worse do things have to become before folk realise there is a need to welcome investment and regeneration to a part of [...]
Torquay Harbourside Visitors and subscribers to Talktorbay.com may have read about the controversy created by the information point and petition created in the Torquay Pavilion in October 2010. The petition is an independent initiative created by Jonathan Abery that gives respondents the opportunity to comment on the harbourside development plans*.
The display shows clippings from [...]
Torbay Council has sent a new warning to residents over council tax scams.
The warning comes after a Bay resident was telephoned by a woman with an American accent, calling herself Elizabeth and stating she worked for Torbay Council.
The caller said the new coalition government was issuing council tax relief to residents. She then asked [...]