A FRESH row has engulfed Newton Abbot after a Government department told campaigners that plans to redevelop the Alexandra Theatre ‘can’ be changed.

Teignbridge Council have repeatedly said that the approved application for the building cannot be looked at ‘in isolation’.

However, campaigners fighting against the plans claim to have been told by a Government department that the plans can in fact be changed, especially in the light of the changing nature of high streets since the pandemic hit.

Campaigners wanting to stop the development say they have been told by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) that the plans ‘can be changed’ without risking the application.

An email seen by the Mid-Devon Advertiser from the Future High Streets team stated: ‘...it is unlikely that the approved proposals will be able to be delivered without any changes, however minor.

‘That is why we are currently developing a Project Adjustment process, which will be rolled out shortly. This will set out the procedure for places to make adjustments to their agreed proposals, whether that be minor, through to the complete replacement of one of their interventions.

‘This will give places the assurance that the proposals they will deliver will be fit for purpose for their high street/town centre.’

Teignbridge Council voted to accept the £9.2 million Future High Streets Funding from the Government in May.

A campaign group formed to ‘Save the Alex’ theatre held a family friendly protest last weekend – see page 6.

Campaigners claim that the public are being ignored after a meeting brokered by Newton Abbot Town Council between the opposing factions was not attended by Teignbridge Council.

When approached for clarification, a spokesman for the MHCLG said: ‘We are unable to comment on individual Future High Street Fund projects.

‘Teignbridge District Council were awarded £9m of Future High Street funding and the next step of that project is a matter for the council, working with their local delivery partners.’

In response to the claims made by the town’s campaigners, a spokesman for Teignbridge said that a theatre was economically ‘unviable.’

The spokesman explained: ‘We are implementing the plans which have been supported by the Future High Street Fund and approved by the council for the regeneration of Newton Abbot.

‘We are re-establishing a historic landmark building as the focal point for the Markets Quarter, delivering facilities which will meet the needs of a wider spectrum of local interests via the planned multi-use space which will allow a range of performances to be staged.

‘As we go through the design and planning stages there will be opportunities to make some changes of detail but this will be within the overall approved plans and will not involve retaining a standalone theatre space which we believe is not economically viable without Council subsidy.

‘Our plans were thoroughly reviewed last year to meet the revised funding requirements and to check for any impact of Covid and we will not be revisiting these.’

Andrew Malcolm, from the Friends of the Alexandra Theatre group, said he was ‘confident’ that Teignbridge Council were ignoring the public on the matter and that email received by the campaigners proved that it wasn’t too late to change course on the plans.

He said: ‘Since the pandemic, the changes to plans can be substantive. The view of the high street has changed dramatically. The plans originally had to be a three-year turn-around from shovel to completion, but since coronavirus the Future High Streets team are expecting plans to change.’