A DECISION to be made by executive members of Devon County Council on July 12 may very well usher in a new era for Newton Abbot, but not without controversy.

No sooner had the Queen Street ‘pedestrian enhancement’ proposals been unveiled was opinion split.

The scheme, which, if implemented, would, in addition to much else, remove more than fifty per-cent of the on-street parking, introduce a 20mph speed limit and then restrict access on Queen Street, is either a dead end endeavour or a necessary element to ensure Newton Abbot thrives for years to come – it depends on who you ask, and which survey you read.

An equal percentage, some 46 per-cent, of public respondents to Devon County Council’s (DCC) consultation, which ran from April 29, 2022, to June 24, 2022, and was conducted in partnership with Teignbridge District Council (TDC), agreed and disagreed with the proposal as a whole, and this dynamic rang true for several elements of the scheme also; 51 per-cent of the  public disagreed with proposed changes to on-street parking, whereas 40 per-cent voiced support; 49 per-cent disagreed with access restrictions west of Albany Street compared to 42 per-cent in favour and so on and so forth.

For proponents the project will ‘enhance the experience of visiting Queen Street and Newton Abbot’, but opposers say to the contrary, it will, in actual fact, drive people away from Queen Street.

Such a divisive reaction is common for a scheme of this kind, as Jon Tricker, panel member for Design West, an independent service that provides consultancy, training and design review to promote excellence in urban design, explains.

‘This type of response is really quite typical, and we are seeing that all over the country - this very polarised view on schemes like this,’ Jon said.

‘You get a lot of people who are quite pro-car, pro-parking and like their freedom to move through towns by car, then you get the other camp, who are, typically, a bit more progressive, they can see the benefits in better walking, better public realm, they can see that even if a bit of on-street parking is taken out, there is still lots of other places to park’ he added.

It is, however, important data be put in perspective.

According to 2021 census data taken from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the parish of Newton Abbot has a population of 27,100 people; the DCC and TDC consultation on Queen Street received a total of 943 public questionnaires, which is less than five per cent of the total population, so the results, therefore, ought to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Certainly, 62 per cent of public responses supported the 20mph speed limit on Queen Street as is being proposed, but one must remember that’s 62 per cent of less than five per cent of the people who call Newton Abbot home.

Opinion among businesses, however, is less split, with just 27 per cent of the responding businesses, of which there were 23, supporting the Queen Street proposal as a whole, 74 per cent objecting to changes to on-street parking and 70 per cent objecting to the suggested access restrictions.

A survey conducted by the South Devon Alliance further supports the notion that businesses are not happy with what is being offered them, for of the 66 businesses surveyed, 43 were against and just six were in favour, with the remaining 17 either undecided, unwilling to comment or closed at the time of the survey.

It would be fair to say, therefore, that businesses, one of whom described the proposal as ‘utter cobblers’, are majority against the proposals, and, moreover, that there is not overwhelming support, at least not in any publicised form, from the public for the scheme, which could come to define Newton Abbot for years to come.

And in spite of objections lodged by Newton Abbot Town Council,  Newton Abbot Civic Society and several of the town’s businesses, the Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) pertaining to the proposal were approved by nine votes to one on June 1, which Cllr Jackie Hook described as the ‘first step in transforming our town centre enabling it to thrive into the future’.

'What are we trying to do?' Cllr Hook said.

'We are trying to save Queen Street and we will not save Queen Street by doing nothing

'Every scheme that has ever been introduced has been contentious, in fact every change in life is contentious' she added.

TROs having been made and sealed, and with a more than £9 million cut of Future High Streets Fund hanging in the balance, it seems that the scheme, which former mayor of Newton Abbot, Carol Bunday, who held office in 2022/23, described as ‘cheap and cheerful’ and likely to be ‘a bit of a white elephant’, will, in all likelihood, be given the green light.

But will it work? 

‘It is difficult to say how this scheme will perform, there is no black and white test on this - it is not an exact science,’ Jon said.

‘One thing to say though, this is a balanced scheme – they are not fully pedestrianising the street.

‘There are two different regimes they are proposing, retaining the one-way on the eastern side and then the restricted zone on the western side.

‘I think it probably will work, that’s my instinct, I think it probably will be beneficial overall’ he added.

‘Every scheme is different, the nature of every high street is different, Jon said.

‘This is a very historic high street, this has been part of Newton Abbot for hundreds of years, there has always been trading on this street.

‘That trading has been driven by movement, by activity, in the early days by horse and cart, and increasingly by motorised traffic, and in some cases pedestrianisation can affect the trade because it effects this movement,’ he added.

One such case is Torbay Road, Paignton.

The town’s ‘Golden Mile’ was completely closed to traffic in a trial of full pedestrianisation.

A public consultation saw majority in favour of banning cars thus Torbay Council implemented a six-month trial scheme, but not without protest from traders.

Taking to the streets with placard in hand, traders came out in force against the scheme saying their businesses had been negatively effected by the lack of passing traffic – Torbay Council promptly scaled back the scheme.

‘It is the worse thing that has ever happened to us’ said Rob from Bay Printing and Embroidery.

‘I have been here 27 years and I have never had a winter like it – it was diabolical,’ he added.

Gary, who runs an amusement arcade in Torbay Road, said: 'To be perfectly honest, it hasn’t really affected me

‘I think that is because we get people who come in anyway, I don’t think people necessarily park to come in, people walk by and go “oh amusement arcade, I’ll go have a look”, so I have been quite fortunate.

That said, April and May haven’t been rubbish for me, but they were not as good as I thought they would be, so maybe I am feeling a little bit of it now, I’m not sure.

Cllr David Thomas, who was duly elected as leader of Torbay Council after the Conservatives took control of the authority, said: ‘We were hearing anecdotally of some businesses along Torbay Road being as much as 70 per cent down - they can’t continue to do that.

‘At some point they will either say “I have had enough, I am not making any money” or “I am being forced to leave here as I cannot pay my bills”, and so our big concern is, if the whole road had remained fully pedestrianised, we might end up with our main high street, connecting the sea front to the town, with no businesses as no trader is able to make pay, and that doesn’t help anyone.

'At the end of the day, this pedestrianisation is to try to drive extra footfall not to reduce foot traffic, which seems to be where we were heading' Cllr Thomas added.

As it stands, the Queen Street proposal, at least in the view of Newton Abbot Civic Society,  risks ‘an impact on our brilliant small businesses’ with there being ‘no safety net’ should it not pan out as intended – perhaps, then, trialling the scheme, akin to Torbay Road, would have been the best course of action?

The delivery of the scheme, however, depends on external funding from Government, namely the Future High Streets Fund and the Active Travel Fund; both funding awards are for capital projects only and as such may only be spent on permanent schemes rather than trials.

A spokesman for Devon County Council said: ‘A trial scheme would be reliant on revenue funding, which is not available and could not be secured to deliver a trial within the time constraints imposed by the capital funding awards.

‘Devon County Council is committed to extensive monitoring and evaluation for scheme delivery, if approved by Cabinet.

‘It may, for example, be possible to amend the TROs that govern vehicle access and parking restrictions after any scheme is delivered.’

The plan for Queen Street is a part of a larger re-development project for Newton Abbot, the main thrust of which is a new, four-screen cinema for the town. 

But with Scott Cinemas, who operate the existing cinema at the Alexandra Theatre in the town, having withdrawn interest from operating the proposed four-screen cinema, it is becoming more and more doubtful as to whether the project will get off the ground, and if it does fall through, the plan for Queen Street will remain just that, a plan.

For now, we await the rubber-stamping on July 12, what lies beyond one cannot say.

► 'I can’t see it being a huge detriment to the businesses down here, the other end of town is pedestrianised and they all manage,' said Lemon Jelli manager Ashley.

‘Towns have to develop and adapt, you have just got to go with it, and I think if you have a steadfast business, whether it is pedestrianised or not, people are still going to come' she added.

► ‘The small businesses down the bottom will feel the pinch,' Chris from Queen Street Butchers said.

‘If they do it here we might as well lock the door, 50 per-cent of our customers pull up and grab their stuff.

‘What are they doing about parking, what infrastructure is being put in place for that?

‘You have five spurs to drive down through, if it is pedestrianised you are reducing that down - how is King Street going to cope with all that traffic?

'And what a place to pull out from!

► Owner of Torbay Motorcycles, Mark, said: ‘It is going to be a nightmare for us really, but they don't take any notice, it has fallen on deaf ears, but there we go.

► The potential for outdoor seating is a particular draw for Mark Butler of Sharpy's Sports & Music Bar.

'It would benefit us for the summer to have outdoor seating,' Mark said.

‘We have a great winter, but in the summer I see all these bars doing well because people can sit outside and we can’t do it.

’If we can put at least four, or five tables out there, that’s an extra twenty or so people, and people walking past will see people sitting outside and come in' he added.

► To read more about Queen Street, especially the views of councillors, check out some other articles below.