RESTAURATEUR Nigel Bloxham has promised award-winning architecture for one of Torbay's most picturesque spots.

Mr Bloxham (pictured) is aiming to create a £400,000 top-quality eatery on Babbacombe Downs, and his proposals have received backing from Bay mayor Nick Bye.

His plans propose converting the public toilets at the Downs into a ultra-modern fish restaurant, to be designed by celebrated Brixham architect Stan Bolt.

The building will include a glass pavilion at ground level, with a 65-seater restaurant on a lower ground floor level at the cliff top.

Viewing platforms will be maintained, giving the same-sized area for the public as is currently there, and about 20 staff would be employed on the site.

State-of-the-art toilets, available all year round, would replace the Victorian facilities which are there now.

Torbay Council's cabinet members discussed the matter on Tuesday, debating whether to offer Mr Bloxham development rights for the site.

Despite ward councillors and members of the public voicing their objections, it was given the go-ahead.

After the meeting, Mr Bloxham said he felt the restaurant's design would act as a draw for the area, creating positive publicity and interest in Babbacombe.

He also believed it would act as the beginning of a wide-ranging project that would involve the community and Torbay schools.

Mr Bloxham added: "We've spent a lot of money on this project so far because we believe in it. We believe in getting it right. It's not a pie-in-the-sky thing.

"I needed a commitment from the council, which I got at the cabinet meeting, and we're now ready to go. We see it as a year-round business, not a 10-week summer one.

"We're very sensitive to people's perceptions. We don't want to obscure the view. We'll frame it.

"But we need something partially above ground. We need it to make some sort of announcement from the road.

"Everyone needs to live together and work together, and this is a huge opportunity to breathe life into the Downs.

"I remember in the 60s and 70s when it was absolutely packed up there. We can provide an attraction which will bring that interest back.

"The council won't be selling the silverware. They'll still own the site, but we'll be giving them a modern piece of architecture which will win awards and stand the test of time.

"The site will be leased to us on a peppercorn rent, the costs will be mine, and the council will have an asset rather than what is there now."

Members of the public attending the council's cabinet meeting accused Mr Bye of having already made his mind up on the subject.

Mr Bye replied: "I would understand the protests if there was nothing there already, but you have unsightly toilets there.

"The toilets are a magnet for anti-social behaviour of one sort or another, so the proposal is a way of dealing with it. It could put Babbacombe on the map.

"I'm very much in favour of the proposal. I think it makes sense. What's there now is unattractive."

Objections were voiced by ward councillors Alan Faulkner and Peter Addis, who felt that any development would ruin the location's natural beauty.

Ahead of the cabinet meeting, they submitted an application for village green status for the Downs.

Cllr Addis said: "Babbacombe Downs has some of the most spectacular views in the South West. It's a major attraction. To build there would be to block that view."

Cllr Faulkner added: "The majority of people are against this, so I hope this matter will end here and now."

Mr Bloxham, from Kingskerswell, owns SeaFare Ltd seafood-processing in Paignton and the acclaimed restaurant The Crab House in Dorset.

He said that a thorough public consultation will be undertaken about proposals for Babbacombe Downs, with a scale model going on show in the near future.