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Borough of Torbay
Geography
Status:	Unitary, Borough
Region:	South West England
Ceremonial County:	Devon
Area: - Total	Ranked 260th 62.88 km²
Admin. HQ:	Torquay
ONS code:	00HH
Demographics
Population: - Total (2010 est.) - Density	Ranked 149th 134,300 2135 / km²
Ethnicity:	98.8% White
Politics
Torbay Borough Council http://www.torbay.gov.uk/
Leadership:	Mayor & Cabinet
Elected Mayor:	Gordon Oliver (Con)
Executive:	Conservative
MPs:	Adrian Sanders (LD) Sarah Wollaston (Con)

Torbay ( /tɔrˈbeɪ/) is an east-facing bay and natural harbour, at the westernmost end of Lyme Bay in the south-west of England, roughly equidistant from the cities of Exeter and Plymouth. Consisting of the towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, and part of the ceremonial county of Devon, Torbay was made a unitary authority on 1 April 1998. Tourist authorities call it the "English Riviera" on account of its beaches and mild climate; it is a popular area with holiday makers.

History[link]

That Torbay has been inhabited since paleolithic times is shown by human bones and tools found in Kents Cavern in Torquay. A maxilla fragment known as Kents Cavern 4 may be the oldest example of a modern human in Europe, dating back to 37,000–40,000 years ago.^[1][2] Roman soldiers are known to have visited Torquay during the period when Britain was a part of the Roman Empire, leaving offerings at a curious rock formation in Kent's Cavern, known as "The Face".

Both Brixham and Paignton appear in the Domesday Book of 1086 and Paignton was given the status of a borough having a market and fair in 1294.^[3] The first major building in Torquay was Torre Abbey, a Premonstratensian monastery founded in 1196.^[4]

William Prince of Orange (afterwards King William III) landed in Brixham on 5 November 1688, during the Glorious Revolution, and issued his famous declaration "The Liberties of England and The Protestant Religion I Will Maintain".

Torquay's economy was, like Brixham's, initially based on fishing and agriculture, but in the early 19th century it began to develop into a fashionable seaside resort, initially frequented by members of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars while the Royal Navy anchored in Torbay and later, as the town's fame spread, by Victorian society.

The historic part of Paignton is inland: the low-lying coastal fringe was originally salt marsh. Kirkham House is a late medieval stone house which is open to the public at certain times of year,^[5] and the Coverdale Tower adjacent to Paignton Parish Church is named after Bishop Miles Coverdale, who published an English translation of the Bible in 1536. Paignton remained a small fishing village until the early 19th century; a new harbour was built here in 1837.

The second phase in the expansion of Torbay began when Torre railway station was opened in December 1848. The railway was extended to Paignton in 1859 and to Brixham in 1861. As a result of its expansion, Torquay was granted borough status in 1872, and 1902 saw its first marketing campaign to summer tourists.

Torbay hosted the sailing events for the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.^[6]

The County Borough of Torbay was created in 1968 by the amalgamation of the Municipal Borough of Torquay, Urban District of Paignton and Urban District of Brixham, also taking in parts of the civil parishes of Coffinswell and Kerswells from Newton Abbot Rural District and Churston Ferrers and Marldon from Totnes Rural District. The County Borough became the Borough of Torbay under local government reorganisation in 1974. It was made a unitary authority on 1 April 1998 making it responsible for its own affairs.

Governance[link]

The area is represented nationally at the House of Commons by two MPs. Torquay (along with part of Paignton) is in the Torbay parliamentary constituency which was created in 1974 and has been held by Adrian Sanders of the Liberal Democrats since 1997. Brixham and part of Paignton fall within the Totnes constituency, with Conservative Sarah Wollaston elected. Torbay is in the South West England constituency of the European Parliament, together with the rest of South West England and Gibraltar.

Torbay Council is headed by the first directly elected mayor in the South West region. Conservative candidate Nicholas Bye became the first mayor elected under this system in October 2005, under an electoral system which was later described as "a total failure" with Bye receiving votes from fewer than 7% of the electorate.^[7] He beat Liberal Democrat Nicholas Pannell in the second round of counting with a total of 7,096 votes to Pannell's 5,197. After the election, Bye noted the general apathy towards the concept displayed during the election, stating: "it is quite clear from canvassing that a lot of people did not want an elected mayor." The most recent mayoral election took place on 5 May 2011, in which Bye lost to Gordon Oliver.

For local elections the district is divided into 15 wards.^{[notes 1]} The Council elects 36 councillors in elections held every four years. Since the Torbay Council election, 2011, the council has a Conservative majority. The composition as of June 24 2011 was:

Geography[link]

Looking towards Paignton from Torquay. Torbay palms in the foreground.

There are three main towns around the bay: Torquay in the north, Paignton in the centre, and Brixham in the south, which have become connected over the years, swallowing up villages and towns such as St Marychurch, Cockington, Marldon, Churston Ferrers and Galmpton. Torbay is bordered by the South Hams to the south and west, and by Teignbridge to the north. Nearby towns include Totnes and Dartmouth in the South Hams, and Newton Abbot and Teignmouth in Teignbridge.

The southern limit of Torbay is Berry Head, and the northern limit is Hopes Nose, although Torquay itself stretches further north into Babbacombe Bay, where the beaches at Oddicombe and Babbacombe can be found; these are noted for their interesting Breccia cliffs. Torbay's many geological features have led to the establishment of the English Riviera Geopark; as of July 2008, this is the sole urban geopark of the 53 geoparks worldwide.^[10]

Because of the mild climate, Torbay palm trees are a common sight along the coast. However, this 'palm' is in fact a cabbage tree (Cordyline australis), originating from New Zealand. These trees flourish elsewhere in the UK. It is suggested that the popularity of cabbage trees in Torbay is attributable to their first being introduced to the UK in that region.

Economy[link]

Torbay's main industry is tourism. It has a large number of European students learning English.

The fishing port of Brixham is home to one of England and Wales' most successful fishing fleets and regularly lands more value than any UK port outside Scotland.^{[citation needed]} It is also a base for Her Majesty's Coastguard and the Torbay Lifeboat Station.

Torbay has been twinned with Hameln in Lower Saxony, Germany since 1973; and with Hellevoetsluis in the Netherlands since 1989.

Education[link]

Transport[link]

Torbay lacks direct motorway links and is primarily served by the A380 road from Exeter. The last stretch of road, from Newton Abbot via Kingskerswell is mostly single carriageway and is often congested in summer and during commuter hours. There have been plans to remedy the situation though alternative routes were difficult to find because the road passes by areas of outstanding natural beauty.^[11] A bypass had been planned since as early as the 1930s and has come close on a few occasions to being built: the latest plan was halted in autumn 2008,^[12] and in October 2010 it was confirmed that the bypass was not one of the 24 schemes that had been approved.^[13] However in November 2011 the government awarded £74.6 million towards the cost of the bypass, and the county council stated that it hoped that construction would start in October 2012 with completion in December 2015.^[14]

An open top bus advertising the "English Riviera"

Torbay's other main road links are the A379, which follows a coastal route from Teignmouth, passes through Torquay and Paignton, then goes on to Dartmouth; and the A385 which goes inland to Totnes and the A38.

The bus franchise is largely operated by Stagecoach South West of the similarly named group, that operates a large share of the market in Torbay and the neighbouring towns of South Devon. Open top buses are operated by Stagecoach and other companies in the summer.

Torbay has three stations on the National Rail network, operated by First Great Western: Torre railway station is inland on the road from Torquay to Newton Abbot, Torquay railway station is close to Torre Abbey Sands and Paignton railway station serves that town and links with the heritage Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway to Kingswear connecting via the Dart ferry to Dartmouth.

Notable people[link]

Famous former residents of Torbay include authors Agatha Christie (who set many of her novels in a thinly disguised version of the borough), Charles Kingsley, Edmund Gosse and Rudyard Kipling. Peter Cook, comic, (half of a famous comedy team with Dudley Moore); the great industrialist and architect of the nearby Atmospheric railway, Isambard Kingdom Brunel; Prog-rock band Wishbone Ash, supermodel Lily Cole, comedian Jim Davidson, tennis player/TV presenter Sue Barker, and astrologer Russell Grant also originate from the area.

Notes[link]

Isaac Merritt Singer, inventor of the sewing machine lived and died in Paignton. Oldway Palace still survives as coucil offices.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Torbay Council
• The Official Tourist Board
• Torbay at the Open Directory Project

v t e Unitary authorities of England Districts Bath and North East Somerset Bedford Borough Blackburn with Darwen Blackpool Bournemouth Bracknell Forest Brighton and Hove Bristol Central Bedfordshire Cheshire East Cheshire West and Chester Cornwall County Durham Borough of Darlington Derby East Riding of Yorkshire Borough of Halton Borough of Hartlepool Herefordshire Isle of Wight Kingston upon Hull Leicester Luton Medway Middlesbrough Borough of Milton Keynes North East Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire North Somerset Northumberland Nottingham Peterborough Plymouth Poole Portsmouth Reading Redcar and Cleveland Rutland Shropshire Slough Southampton Southend-on-Sea South Gloucestershire Borough of Stockton-on-Tees Stoke-on-Trent Borough of Swindon Telford and Wrekin Thurrock Torbay Warrington West Berkshire Wiltshire Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham Borough York Councils Bournemouth Cornwall Herefordshire Isle of Wight Kingston upon Hull Leicester Middlesbrough Northumberland Nottingham Poole Rutland Shropshire Slough Thurrock Wiltshire

v t e Olympic venues in sailing 1900: Le Havre, Meulan-en-Yvelines 1908: Solent, Southampton Water 1912: Nynäshamn 1920: Ostend, Buiten Y 1924: Le Havre, Meulan-en-Yvelines 1928: Buiten Y, Zuiderzee 1932: Los Angeles Harbor 1936: Kiel Bay 1948: Torbay 1952: Harmaja, Liuskasaari 1956: Port Phillip 1960: Gulf of Naples 1964: Enoshima 1968: Club de Yates 1972: Bay of Kiel 1976: Portsmouth Olympic Harbour 1980: Olympic Regatta in Tallinn 1984: Long Beach Shoreline Marina 1988: Busan Yachting Center 1992: Olympic Harbour 1996: Wassaw Sound 2000: Rushcutters Bay 2004: Agios Kosmas Olympic Sailing Centre 2008: Qingdao International Sailing Centre 2012: Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy 2016: Marina da Glória

Coordinates: 50°27′08″N 3°33′25″W / 50.45226°N 3.55682°W / 50.45226; -3.55682

The Honourable Richard Torbay MP
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Northern Tablelands
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 March 1999
Preceded by	Ray Chappell
Majority	19.7%
30th Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
In office 8 May 2007 – 2 May 2011
Preceded by	John Aquilina
Succeeded by	Shelley Hancock
Personal details
Born	(1961-03-26) 26 March 1961 (age 51)
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Independent
Alma mater	University of New England
Occupation	Politician
Website	Parliamentary webpage

George Richard Torbay MP (born 26 March 1961), an Australian politician, is an independent member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Northern Tablelands since 1999. Torbay was the 30th Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, serving from 2007 until 2011, and was the first independent member to be Speaker of the House since 1913. Prior to his election to State parliament, he served for a period as Mayor of Armidale City Council.^[1]

Early life and career[link]

Born in 1961, Torbay was educated at Kingswood High School. He was elected to Armidale City Council in 1991 and was a Councillor 1991–98. He was the Deputy Mayor 1992–93, and Mayor 1995–98. He also established Armidale City Council: Public Relations Committee in 1993 and Youth Council in 1993.

His involvement in local government also extended to being Chairman New England Local Government Group 1997–98; Chairman NSW Country Mayor's Association 1997–98 and Member Water Supply and Resources Committee of the Local Government and Shires Association 1996.

State political career[link]

In 1999, he challenged the former Nationals Minister, Ray Chappell, for the seat of Northern Tablelands, running as an independent candidate. In a surprise result, Torbay defeated Chappell; winning 44.15 per cent of the primary vote to Chappell's 34.09 per cent, with a two-party preferred margin of 59.37 per cent.^[2]

Torbay was re-elected at the 2003 and 2007 general elections, again representing Northern Tablelands. He accepted an offer by Premier Morris Iemma to become Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, a position usually filled by a member of the governing party.^[3] Following the election of the O'Farrell–Stoner Liberal/National coalition government at the 2011 general election, Torbay was replaced as Speaker by the Liberal's Shelley Hancock.^[4]

Other appointments[link]

In 1991, Torbay was the Chief Executive of the University of New England Union having previously started at the university as a kitchen hand in 1980. ^[5] In 2008, he was elected the Chancellor of the University of New England.^[6] Married with three children,^[1] in 2007, Torbay received an honorary doctorate from the University of New England. ^[5]

References[link]

The Honourable Eddie Obeid OAM
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
In office 12 September 1991 – 10 May 2011
Preceded by	Jack Hallam
Succeeded by	Walt Secord
Minister for Fisheries
In office 8 April 1999 – 2 April 2003
Preceded by	Bob Martin
Succeeded by	Ian Macdonald
Minister for Mineral Resources
In office 8 April 1999 – 2 April 2003
Preceded by	Bob Martin
Succeeded by	Kerry Hickey
Personal details
Born	Edward Moses Obeid (1943-10-25) 25 October 1943 (age 68) Matrite, Lebanon
Nationality	Australia
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Spouse(s)	Judy Obeid (m. 1965)
Children	9
Website	NSW Parliament webpage

Edward (“Eddie”) Moses Obeid OAM (born 25 October 1943), a former Australian politician, was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council who served between 1991 and 2011, representing the Australian Labor Party. He was the Minister for Fisheries and the Minister for Mineral Resources from 1999–2003. Prior to the March 2015 expiry of his term in the Legislative Council, Obeid announced his decision to retire early on 10 May 2011, citing family reasons.^[1]

During his pariamentary career, Obeid was considered by many a powerbroker^[2] in the New South Wales Labor Party, belonging to the dominant right-wing sub-faction, often referred to as The Terrigals, so named as its inaugural meeting was held at Obeid's beach house in Terrigal.^[3] It was reported that Obeid might retire at the 2011 state election, prior to the expiry of his term,^[4] however he waited until the election was concluded.^[1][5][6]

Early years and background[link]

Obeid was born in the village of Matrite (sometimes called Metrit),^[7] (a village in Northern Lebanon with a Christian majority),^[8] in Lebanon.^[9] At age 6, he migrated to Australia with his family and they settled in Redfern, growing up in a terrace house.^[7][8] Of Lebanese Maronite Catholic faith, he was an altar boy, sold newspapers from a street corner and collected deposits on soft drink bottles.^[7] Obeid married Judith in 1965, is now father of 9 children and a grandfather of 28 grandchildren.^[9] At age 29 in 1972, Obeid joined the Labor Party.

Prior to entering parliament, Obeid held a range of voluntary roles including:^[9]

• Trustee of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (1980–1982)
• Part-time Commissioner of the Ethnic Affairs Commission (1981–1985)
• Vice-President Ethnic Press Association of Australia (1981–1986)
• Director of the Western Suburbs Hospital Board (sic) (1983–1986)
• Board of Governors of the Law Foundation of New South Wales (1985–1988)
• Led Australian-Lebanese hostage negotiation mission to Iraq (December 1990)
• Patron, Australian Lebanese Christian Federation

Political career[link]

Elected to the Legislative Council in 1991 to replace Jack Hallam,^[7] despite a brief carriage of junior ministerial responsibilities in the third Carr ministry, Obeid's main contribution to parliament has been through Committee representation^[9] and his ability to manipulate factional numbers and votes.^[4][10] At the time of his resignation from the Council, Obeid claimed that his most satisfying moment in politics was to assist in the passage of legislation to help building sub-contractors.^[1]

His term in parliament, though, was dogged by controversy, including:

• 2002 Oasis redevelopment (see below)^[11] and subsequent investigation that cleared him of allegations of corrupt behaviour^[12]
• 2002 relevations that Obeid had failed to disclose all his business interests on Parliament's pecuniary interests register (see below)^[13][14]
• 2003 allegations that Obeid promised to secure the seat of Parramatta - and an early ministry - for David Borger if he dumped the Left faction and joined the dominant Right^[2]
• Providing Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans, a member of the Australian Democrats, with a lift to Parliament House and using the opportunity to lobby Chesterfield-Evans in order to achieve favourable political outcomes, as revealed by Chesterfield-Evans in Hansard:^[15]

"(Obeid said to me,) "Look, I'll give you the drum on what to do when you're here. You vote with us regularly and consistently and at the end of the day we'll give you a little win and you'll get back in." I said, "That's very kind, Eddie, but I've got a different idea. I've come here with a bunch of policies from the Australian Democrats. If you give me good legislation that's close to those policies, I will vote for it, but if you give me bad legislation that's a long way from those policies, I will vote against it." Eddie replied, "Oh no, you haven't got the right idea at all." ..... One day Eddie said, "You didn't vote for us. You should, you know, because I give you a lift home." I did not know whether he was being facetious—he may well have been—but I did not want it to appear as though I was compromising on the matter so from then on I caught the ferry."

• 2004 censure motion due to Obeid's undue influence in the elections of Matrite Council^{[15][16][17][18]}
• 2004 claims that Obeid had exerted undue influence on family members^[19]
• 2006 attempts to dump Obeid from the 2007 state election in favour of a Muslim candidate^[20]
• 2007 influence in the composition of the Iemma ministry^[21] and Iemma's demise^[22]
• 2009 influence in the composition of the Rees ministry^[23]
• 2009 representations to NSW Minister for Roads, Michael Daley, on behalf of Mid-Western Regional Council for funding to seal a 1.5 km stretch of roadway near Obeid's family property near Mudgee. Obeid failed to disclose his business interest^[24][25]
• 2009 allegations of linkages between Obeid, his son, Moses, former Labor powerbroker and current lobbyist, Graham Richardson, businessman, Ron Medich and the murder of Michael McGurk^[26]
• 2009–2010 allegations that Obeid, together with right-wing Terrigals sub-factional colleague Tripodi, influenced the election and make-up of the Kristina Keneally ministry^[10][27][28]

A large number of the allegations against Obeid have been generated by Fairfax Media's, The Sydney Morning Herald. In 2003, following Obeid's decision to not seek re-election to the fourth Carr ministry, he was quoted as saying:^[29]

"...my decision will ensure that Government is not distracted by the campaign of innuendo, vilification and unsubstantiated allegation launched against me by The Sydney Morning Herald. This campaign shows no sign of abating and until my defamation action against the Herald is resolved in the courts, any work I did as a minister could be overshadowed."

Announcing his decision to retire from the Legislative Council on 10 May 2011, Obeid issued a statement that his granddaughter, Gisele, was diagnosed with cancer tumours in her kidneys in November 2010 and that, despite an operation and extensive chemotherapy, recent scans suggest some of the tumours remain. He said that "... My wife and I need to spend all our time supporting our son Moses and his wife Nikki through this difficult time."^[30] Following his announcement to retire, John Hatzistergos MLC also announced his intention to retire from the Legislative Council. Walt Secord, the former chief of staff to the former Premier, Kristina Keneally, and Adam Searle were nominated by Labor to fill the casual vacancies.^[5][6]

Business interests[link]

Initially working as a taxi driver and then property developer,^[10] the source of Obeid's initial wealth and business is not clear.^[31] However, it is known that Obeid, together with his two brothers, inherited their father's estate that comprised land and houses in Lebanon.^[8] In 1973, Obeid together with business partners, purchased an interest in the recently established Arabic press, El-Telegraph Newspaper, with Obeid later buying out his business partners.^[32] Obeid has since sold his personal interest and is no longer publisher.^[33]

In September 2002, The Sydney Morning Herald alleged that Obeid was of NSW richest members of parliament.^[13][34] Media reports claimed that Obeid had purchased a property in Clovelly for A$875,000 in 1991 and the following day sold the property to the New South Wales Department of Housing for A$1.1 million.^[10] The Herald also claimed that two companies associated with Obeid have had debts of A$5 million written off by various banks.^[13] It was also alleged that the Obeid family trust secured a loan from the Colonial State Bank for A$18 million. The Herald also sourced an internal document from Macquarie Bank, claiming:^[13]

"(Mr Obeid's) financial position is complex, with investments in his various companies and projects being difficult to analyse due to the cross ownership with third parties."

These allegations arose at the same time as The Herald alleged that Obeid had attempted to solicit a A$1 million payment in return for promising NSW Government support for the Canterbury Bulldogs Leagues Club's A$800 million Oasis housing development in south-western Sydney.^[11] As a result of these allegations, the Independent Commission Against Corruption conducted an inquiry and found that there was no evidence that any donation was made to the Labor Party in relation to the project. The Commission made a finding that Obeid had never solicited a donation and cleared him of any wrongdoing.^[12] In the meantime, The Herald reports for a series of articles concerning Canterbury Bulldogs salary cap breaches and the above (false) allegations had won a Gold Walkley.^[35] Obeid commenced defamation action against Fairfax Media and in 2006 the Supreme Court found that Obeid had been defamed and that the media article had contributed to Obeid losing his job as a NSW minister. Obeid was awarded A$162,173 in damages, plus costs believed to have been more than A$1 million.^[36]

Obeid and his family also invested in Offset Alpine printing press^[37] with the late disgraced stockbroker Rene Rivkin; where investors yielded a small fortune when the overinsured printing premises were destroyed by fire in 1993 via an insurance payout.^[10] In a remarkable co-incidence, Obeid has also had two of his premises^[4] and two houses have gone up in flames.^[10] Obeid's family have property interests in Lebanon, Port Macquarie,^[34] Terrigal, Bylong Valley,^[25] Woolwich and Hunters Hill,^[25] and Concord (since sold);^[38] and business interests in live sheep exporting to Syria and Iraq.^[19]

The Obeid family also have interests in Streetscape Projects, a company managed by Obied's son, Moses, that sells multipurpose street poles with street lights, banners and security cameras, including those in the City of Sydney municipal area.^[39] On 1 February 2012 as a result of a civil action brought by Sydney City Council over Moses Obeid's secret sales to overseas countries of the jointly developed "smartpoles", Judge Clifford Einstein in the Supreme Court ordered that Moses Obeid had deliberately and wilfully conducted secret transactions to avoid paying Sydney City Council more than A$8 million in royalties and more than A$350,000 in licencing fees. Judge Einstein ordered Moses Obeid to pay almost A$12 million dollars to Council in compensation as well as the Council's legal costs, reportedly amounting to an additional A$4 million. Judge Einstein is also reported to have formed an unfavourable view of the truthfulness of the evidence given by Moses Obeid.^[40]

Awards and Honours[link]

Obeid was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 1984 for his services to ethnic welfare.^[41]

References[link]