Helping deliver regeneration and investment on Paignton seafront
Helping deliver regeneration and investment on Paignton seafront
KOR Communications designed and delivered the public consultation, stakeholder engagement and media relations for Fragrance Group's redevelopment of the former Park Hotel on Paignton seafront. Around 150 people attended the public exhibition, more than 2,000 visited the consultation website and over 350 submitted feedback before Torbay Council approved the scheme unanimously in 2018.
The project
Fragrance Group acquired the former Park Hotel on Paignton seafront with plans to replace an existing, unviable hotel with a new 161-bedroom Mercure Hotel.
Following a competitive pitch, we were appointed to lead the consultation and engagement for the project. KOR addressed the question of viability directly, helping to explain why redevelopment offered a more feasible future for the site than refurbishment while giving residents, businesses and local organisations a meaningful opportunity to influence the plans.
Our approach
At the heart of our campaign was a compelling story and key messages around the once-in-a-generation multi-million-pound private investment in Paignton by the Fragrance Group of Singapore, who had appointed a local firm of architects to design a new hotel that would provide a catalyst for the regeneration of the seafront. We mapped and briefed a stakeholder network spanning Torbay Council, the local MP, ward councillors, Paignton Town and Preston Community Partnership, Paignton Chamber of Commerce, Torbay Civic Society, neighbouring businesses and residents, and organised a stakeholder preview and public exhibition at the Paignton Club supported by direct invitations, local advertising and media coverage across the Herald Express and Devon Live.
A dedicated consultation website mirrored the exhibition materials and remained open for feedback, ensuring people who could not attend could review the proposals and respond. We gathered and analysed all feedback, advised the project team on the matters raised and prepared the Statement of Community Involvement submitted as part of the planning application.
The outcome
Of those who attended the exhibition and completed a paper form, 94 per cent supported retaining the site in hotel use and 85 per cent backed the outline proposals. The scheme also drew public support from the local MP, Paignton Town and Preston Community Partnership, Torbay Civic Society, Torbay Development Agency and the Herald Express.
Torbay Council's Development Management Committee approved the application unanimously in 2018. Our involvement did not end at the committee decision since KOR continued to manage media relations through the planning and construction phases.
The Park Hotel was one of four Fragrance Group hotel schemes KOR supported in Torquay and Paignton, representing a combined investment in excess of £200 million. Its transformation of a prominent seafront site has since been raised with KOR by local authorities elsewhere as an example of the economic impact that well-managed private investment can bring to coastal towns.
-
The outdated former Park Hotel was replaced by a new 161-bedroom, four-star Mercure Hotel. Torbay Council approved the redevelopment unanimously in 2018 and the hotel opened in 2023.
-
Around 150 people attended the public exhibition and more than 350 provided formal feedback in person or online. Of those who attended and completed a paper form, 94 per cent supported retaining the site in hotel use and 85 per cent backed the outline proposals.
-
Early stakeholder briefings, a well-publicised exhibition and an open consultation website meant the issues that mattered locally, from the loss of the Victorian building to parking and design, were understood and addressed before the application was submitted. The feedback informed the Statement of Community Involvement and gave the committee clear evidence of local support.