“The transport system in the bay area needs to be improved not demolished.pressure should be put on the transport providers to improve the system not use the facilities for private gain.The mayors vision of the bay should cater for all not just to make Torbay into another high class expensive resort.Perhaps the mayor should listen to the people of Torbay more ,after all they are the people who will have to live with the results.Torre station could offer good park and ride connections to all parts of Torbay,and by linking with a proposed interchange at Churston,either by bus or train could remove a great deal of traffic from the bay area and give a good connection for visitors to Brixham,Dartmouth and Greenway”

“Many thanks to Kate who is absolutely correct in pointing out the historical connections to Agatha Christie all over Torbay.
With regard to the other notable individual mentioned by Kate, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the man was not one for standing still and is probably THE most forward thinking visionary in modern times.
Would Agatha Christie have ever found Torbay or a way out of it without IKB railway link to the outside world?
Having studied his many transport solutions over the years, it is clear that when he saw something that was so obviously correct he pursued it; in many cases in spite of fierce opposition.
We have a transportation problem in Torbay (i.e. getting in and out of the bay) and our council is happy to pursue a proposed scheme that is using a sledge hammer to crack a nut.
It also ignores all the evidence that a direct rail link to Torre, Torquay and Paignton, whilst being critical as far as Torbay Council is concerned, is not a top priority for the train companies operating the route.
I have to regularly collect my partner following a trip on the train to London or elsewhere in the UK and back again and 50% of the time I end up in Newton Abbot train station because there are no onward connections to Torquay.
What happens when (ha ha) the proposed link road is built, the train companies pull the plug on the remaining train services operating between Newton Abbot and Paignton and we are left with a redundant railway line?
In my book this would present a complete wasted opportunity and, dare I say it, a complete lack of vision. No doubt some bright spark in the council will say we should have used it to build a link road.
The station and signal box at Torre station (both IKB designs?) could easily be preserved. To develop the Torre Station site in the way being proposed in the Mayoral Vision will, I propose, kill off any chance of the alternative link road route I have suggested.
To conclude and on a lighter note, I do not see how preserving a furniture store (Torre Station), a kitchen suppliers (shunting yard and loco sheds), a storage yard with shipping containers, etc., is going to attract any additional foreign visitors to Torbay. Sorry to say it Kate but most foreign tourists we have staying with us want to visit Greenway.”

“The BEST USE of Torre Station is to keep it exactly as it is and bring tourists to the site. Charge them to see it.

Torre Station is not only connected to Isambard Kingdom Brunel, but directly to Agatha Christie and her family. Torre Station is where she took the train from out to the Moors to finish 'Mystery Affair at Style,' (her first book), and where her Father and her caught local transportation (cabs & omnibuses) for decades. Good God, England, don't you know a good thing when you already own it?! Nearly everything in Torquay is a tourist site related to the greatest selling author in history. Too bad you are destroying it all when there are hundreds of millions of tourists in the USA, Canada, Japan, & Australia who have no idea that Agatha Christie spent the first 29 years of her life on Barton Road in Torquay, a few yards from Torre Station.

Get it together Britain. Use your brains.”

“Toby as Philip Godden, Brixham says stop thinking that way it will do you no good.

Many years ago before the Penn Inn Roundabout was there and Kingskerwell had it's railway platform closed some bright spark came up with the idea that seeing that the railway traffic was in decline and road traffic was on the increase why not make a dual carriageway on the unused branch line to Kingswear, well that was laughed down by both the Devon County Council and the then Torquay Town and Newton Abbot Urban Councils, guess they had no 'vision' also. There was no dual carriageway on the A380 into Newton Abbot, it was all controlled by traffic lights at the Penguin Pool, which is now Penn Inn....when the dual carriageway was built some other stupid person suggested a flyover that would take the road traffic to Aller Junction where the main line to Plymouth would continue but the branch line to Torbay and Kingswear would be converted to a dual carriageway road as far as Lawes Bridge. What a stupid idea that was, at the time I think it could all have been done for about £1000 give or take the odd shilling.

The idea in those days was to have a trolley bus network that could link up to the ram lines that were all over Torquay and Paignton.

There were also many protests at the time from the residents of Aller and Kingskerwell as they would no longer have any traffic noise, the place would be safe for children, buses and heavy lorries and all the pollution would also be missed. Also the RAC and AA protested as they would no longer have a purpose built hut for their motorcycle patrols to work from. Hang on a minute Mr Bloxham could build a glass domed fish restaurant there now, all that land is for free in Aller lay by.

So please Toby stop having sensible suggestions you know Mr Bye and Mr Lewis don't like common sense.”

“Mayoral Vision .What a wow title for a new Python film.Cast already in place . Get the mayor to find the" vision" with a norwegian blue parrock sketch thrown in.Filming starts at Town Hall next Cabinet meeting”

“Toby, you must put a stop to your logical thinking. You know very well that local government in the south west does not have that degree of thinking ability and the main aim is to sit tight and do as little as possible until the pension kicks in.”

“When the current rail operators running the train services out of Paignton finally get their way, the council will have more than just a paltry 1.2 hectares to worry about.
What is the council proposing to do with a stretch of land running from Paignton to Newton Abbot that is currently the site of two railway lines? Conveniently it happens to be about the same width as a dual carriage way. Suggest therefore Torre Station site is earmarked as the site of a large roundabout giving access to an alternative Kingkerswell Bypass running along the current railway line route. No extra land requirement, green, a damn site less costly than what has been proposed and quick to implement.
Current rail passengers using the route could easily switch to trams/buses.”

“"Mr Parrock said the site was currently privately owned but that the various owners wanted to see how it could be given a new lease of life".
Of course they do - isn't it strange over all the years nothing has been thought of until now! Could it be that the council is seen as an easy target - especially with 'Vision Boy' bringing up the rear. The whole vision palaver is not hard to work out - I would hazard a guess that many of the proposals involve private developers therefore greater opportunity for 'vision boy' to network outside the loop of local government.”

“This is terrific news...will Gordon Ramsey be involved? You could build a terrific glass restaurant over the tracks with excellent views of Tor Abbey. The 'vision' is so good for the bay like the Messiahs head in Marmite.”