Edginswell Retail Unit, Torquay

The project is to provide a new retail store for Wickes Building Supplies Limited at Edginswell Business Park, Orchard Way, Torquay. The heads of terms have been agreed by the two parties and an outline lease and development agreement is currently with solicitors. The unit is to be built on land owned by Torbay Council within a wider 6 acre site bought by the authority from Tesco in 2018. The site of the new retail store is just short of 2 acres. Torbay Council is the instructing party on this matter and will act as developer. The Council has approved the funding for the retail scheme. In November 2020 the Council received confirmation that they had been successful in securing 'Getting Building Fund' central government grant funding to support an adjacent scheme of enabling works to deliver 3 development plateaus to include the retail site. The enabling works will include significant earthworks, adopted extension to Orchard Way, reinforced earth banks, surface water & foul connections and services. These works are anticipated to be substantially complete ahead of the retail unit's start on site. Torbay Council has appointed TDA to act to deliver the retail scheme and appointed their consultants to act as Structural Engineer (to stage 3), Principal Designer, Project Manager and Quantity Surveyor. KTA Architects have been appointed up to and including Stage 3. The proposed building has a footprint of 1850 m2 and will be built to a developers shell specification. The external areas will comprise a front car park (currently 68 vehicle spaces), servicing compound and rear Outdoor Project Centre. Following completion the tenant is installing a 557 m2 mezzanine block with amenity and trading space. The building will comprise a steel portal frame, pitched roof (Trisomet insulated panels), elevations (Trimapanel flat and microrib insulated panels, and glazing). It is currently anticipated that the heights to haunch will be approximately 7.5m, to ridge 10.1 m, highest parapet 11.3m and height of local stone 2.1m. It is anticipated that the site will have piled foundations and the building will have a concrete reinforced floor which will be designed to accommodate the tenants racking and mezzanine floor. Historically the site had a 2007 outline planning approval (ref P/2007/1743) which has expired in parts and been the subject of variations to enable the substantial neighbouring works that have taken place. An extant detailed planning approval for a retail store of a similar scale to the proposal exists on the subject site, however it is anticipated that the scheme will require a new Full planning application with negotiations ongoing ahead of an imminent application. The enabling works will also be subject to a new planning application.