Essential maintenance work to prevent hazardous rock falls in the centre of Torquay has had a disastrous effect on the seaside town’s hospitality industry, affecting takings and even forcing some businesses to close according to a local Michelin starred chef.
Simon Hulstone, chef proprietor of The Elephant in Torquay’s harbour side area has criticised the council’s handling of the work on the town`s historic Rock Walk cliff gardens which closed the main seafront road from 28 January to 11 March, effectively sealing off the harbour area.
“They closed the whole harbour side down; no one could get in by car, taxi or public transport. There were no signs to say that shops and business in the harbour were still trading and there was a delay in getting traffic diverted,” claims Hulstone. “We were told by the council that the work was going to take place but we didn’t expect it to be such a massive problem.”
Speaking on behalf of Torbay Council, Communications Officer Nicola Moorhouse said that the severity of the problem was only discovered when the site was cleared of foliage and that, contrary to rumours, the council’s work was not responsible for destabilising the cliff. She added that there had been no delays in erecting adequate signage or setting up the traffic diversion scheme.
“There was a specific request from one business for an additional sign at the clock tower which was met,” said Moorhouse. She also pointed out that no business had yet submitted a claim to the council for loss of earnings which she said they were entitled to do.
However, Hulstone says that his trading has been noticeably lower than the same period last year and says that many of the neighbouring harbour side businesses are up for sale.
“The harbour was a ghost town in February and March – it was quite scary from a business point of view,” says Hulstone.
Bettesworth Commercial Properties of lists 16 restaurants, cafes and takeaways and 10 pubs, clubs and bars for sale in Torquay on their website. A spokesperson for the company, who wished to remain nameless, refused to comment on whether the number of properties available had been affected by the road closure.
The main seafront road will remain at two lanes instead of four throughout the summer, although work to stabilise Rock Walk will not re-commence until late August at the earliest.
Despite the apparently challenging business conditions, Hulstone claims he has no plans to leave the town. “I’m not going anywhere - we’re going to tough it out. We’re lucky in that we own the business. We don’t have any money problems and we’re paying our bills."