Torbay Council’s Development Management Committee have approved a retirement living scheme for the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay.

The scheme, which was submitted by Churchill Retirement Living, will include knocking down the current hotel and building 21 one-bed and 11 two-bedroom apartments, with a guest suite and two communal lounges.

This is the second scheme to be submitted by Churchill Retirement Living for the Gleneagles Hotel site. Their first scheme of 36 apartments was rejected by the Development Management Committee as they felt it was too large and unsympathetic to the area. Churchill appealed against this outcome but an independent planning Inspector agreed with the committee’s decision and dismissed the appeal.

Councillor Mark King, Executive Lead for Planning, Transport and Housing, said “This is a great outcome for the iconic Gleneagles Hotel site and I look forward to seeing the new development taking shape. Our Development Management Committee, officers and the independent Design Review Panel have worked well together to achieve the right result for the area and, importantly, obtain a much better proposal for the site and the best result for the local community, the council and the developer.”

Councillor Mark Kingscote, Chairman of Torbay Council’s Development Management Committee, said “The committee’s members and officers work hard to achieve really high quality design for new developments in Torbay. The original scheme from Churchill was well below the standard we look for and with the Inspector’s report supporting our decision to refuse planning permission we have now managed to secure and approve this better designed scheme for the site. ”