Funding diverted as business park plan shelved

The £2m funding has been diverted to Torrington

Money from a failed business park project has been diverted to a project aiming to bring high value manufacturing and engineering to Devon.

The £2m had been earmarked to create a Bideford business park at East-the-Water, but has now been assigned to the development of the Hatchmoor Industrial Estate at Torrington.

Torridge District Council heard extensive negotiations failed to secure land at Manteo Way for the Bideford business park as landowners Evans Transport made it clear they did not want to sell it.

The local authority would need to borrow a further £3.3m for the project and has to spend the funding by the end of March 2027.

Work is due to start at the site - owned by Torridge District Council - in a year's time on the four-acre industrial estate, subject to planning permission.

Both projects were included in the 12 selected by the government to proceed under its £20.7m boost for the district, said the Local Reporting Democracy Service.

The council's head of communities and place Sean Kearney said the most "time efficient" thing to do was allocate the £2m to one of the other projects in the pipeline.

Bideford councillors said they would like to see money spent on delivering more social housing in Bideford as part of the Cleave Wood development or another project to provide office space in the town.

However, councillor Robert Hicks said Torrington deserved to receive the money.

"Over the 26 years I have been a member I have seen a lot of money go into Bideford and Holsworthy, and other than the Plough (arts centre) and the Globe (hotel project), not too much has gone into Torrington," he said.