THE owners of a prime patch of building land once dubbed ‘Chernobyl-on-Sea’ today insisted they still have plans for it even though it has been derelict for more than a decade.

A busy gasworks once stood on the land at Hollicombe, on the coast road between Paignton and Torquay.

But the huge gas holders have long since gone, and the large patch of land has been empty ever since.

A lengthy operation to clear the land of toxic chemicals left behind from its former use was completed 10 years ago.

Although permission was granted for 185 homes on the land as long ago as 2012, it remains a patch of largely overgrown waste land.

However, a spokesman for owners Vistry Homes said in a statement: “The scheme remains under active review, and we will bring forward any deliverable development opportunity as soon as it becomes feasible.”

Hollicombe is one of the key “brownfield” sites for development in Torbay, where the need for land for housing has reached critical levels.

The large area, three acres in the valley between Tarraway Road and Mead Road, is now strewn with battered fence panels and other debris. Wooden hoardings along the main Paignton to Torquay road, opposite the entrance to Hollicombe Park and the path to the beach, were painted by local graffiti artists in February 2023 in response to a local outcry.

The first plans for the site were shown to the public in June 2007, at which point the gasworks itself had been dormant for almost 40 years. Local residents fought an unsuccessful campaign for the area to be turned into a park.

Now-defunct Midas Homes submitted plans for 185 new homes, including a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments, 44 of which would be affordable.

There were more than 500 objections, mainly on the grounds of increased traffic. A Hollicombe Action Group was set up to fight the plans.

Councillors heard that a “full decontamination” would be needed, and it was at that stage that one member of the planning committee branded it Chernobyl-on-Sea, referring to the city in Ukraine where a nuclear reactor exploded in 1986.

By December 2010 council officers were recommending the go-ahead for the 185 homes and a public park, and in February 2011 it was given the green light, as long as a giant “tent” was put over the site during digging to prevent toxic dust going into the air. But the whole project was “called in” by the Government in April 2011 so an environmental impact assessment could be completed.

A year later it was said to be “back on track” and residents were told they had nothing to fear from the toxic chemicals left behind from the gasworks, which were successfully removed under the giant marquee in 2015.

Since then, however, the site has remained empty and no homes have been built. Maps show a road called Cudd Hill Road running through it, but the road has never been built.