News Archive

Granite goes down on Fore Street

THE £1.3m regeneration of Fore Street took a huge step forward last week as workers began to lay the first of the granite slabs in the town — two weeks ahead of schedule.
The scheme to transform Fore Street will complete most of the major improvements to the town centre and follows on from the regeneration of White River Place.
Phase one of the project has seen the existing pavements in the heart of the town ripped up to make way for the installation of new superfast broadband cabling, an improved granite pavement and drainage.
The town’s main throughfare will now boast Cornish granite stones which have been supplied from the De Lank Quarry on Bodmin Moor.
Weighing between 50kg and 100kg each, a team of Cormac workers began laying the blocks that will cover 1,700sqm along Fore Street last Wednesday.

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Police awards for flood communities

Communities affected by last year’s catastrophic autumn floods came together at the St Austell town council offices last week to receive Devon & Cornwall Police Commander Good Citizenship awards.
Presenting the special awards was Superintendent Julie Whitmarsh, who last November coordinated the Police response at Cornwall Council’s emergency operations centre in the bowels of County Hall in Truro.
The four worst affected areas, St Blazey, Pentewan, Mevagissey and Lostwithiel, became the focus of national media attention when heavy rain caused rivers to burst banks and flood defences to fail causing millions of pounds of damage.
Supt Whitmarsh highlighted the way in which emergency agencies like the Police, Fire Service, Ambulance service as well as the Environment Agency and council emergency services  initiated civil emergency plans when the catastrophic storms struck on November 17.

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Sewer flood swamps classrooms

IN A WEEK when forecasters predicted snow next month and a colder than average winter, flash floods in St Austell caused havoc on Friday afternoon at Bishop Bronescombe school when a surge of rainwater blew off a drain cover, sending a tidal wave of raw sewage surging through three infant classrooms.
Head teacher Adrian Massey and his intrepid team of makeshift cleaners performed a miracle clean up over the weekend, as they all pitched in, spirit of the blitz style, with mops and buckets.
Mr Massey said: "Thankfully, the kids were out to play when the drains went. I immediately put a makeshift rescue mission into place with all of the available staff mucking in. The emergency drain company was here within 15 minutes and we began the clean up operation.
"The floods subsided after 30 minutes or so, and we could then start pulling out the brand new carpets that had been laid during the school holidays.
“I decided not to close the school and instead shift the children around amongst the Junior school which is on a higher level. In reality, they thought it was tremendous fun and really enjoyed the whole experience — until the pong set in!

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Royal Shakespeare Company at Brannel

It was much ado about something at Brannel School last week when top thesps the Royal Shakespeare Company pitched up to inaugurate the schools state-of-the-art Bell Theatre with performances of their much acclaimed Young People's Hamlet, starring Dharmesh Patel in the title role and the beautiful Debbie Korley as Ophelia.
The Bard's classic played over two nights to packed audiences and showed just what a potent piece it remains despite being written over 400 years ago.
The play has been adapted for a younger audience with the running time reduced from four hours to just 75 minutes and the dress is more contemporary with an Edwardian flavour.

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Village calls for speed camera

RESIDENTS in Foxhole concerned about speeding motorists after a child was knocked down in the village earlier this year have handed a petition to Cornwall Council calling for the installation of a speed camera.
More than 300 villagers have signed the petition requesting a fixed speed camera after a youngster was hit by a motor bike in June after stepping off the school bus in Foxhole.
The petition was revealed at a St Stephen-in-Brannel Parish Council meeting where councillors resolved to ask the authority to also erecting a sign near the scene where the incident happened to make drivers aware.  
Parish clerk Verna Hedley, said: “The petition has been sent off with a letter from the parish council. We are waiting for a comment back from them to say if there is anything that can be done.
“If it is possible to put a speed camera in Foxhole the location will have to be discussed with highways so it is put in the safest place.”

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Developer bids for council offices

CORNWALL COUNCIL are meeting today to consider a bid from supermarket developer Terrace Hill Properties for the old Restormel Council offices on Penwinnick Road.
Broadley Park Properties, the developer behind the proposed Morrisons supermarket on the old Imerys Labs site on Pentewan Road, had expressed an interest in the site, and there are already advanced plans for a Sainsbury’s supermarket on neighbouring land as part of Mercian Developments’ Coyte Farm scheme.
In March, Cornwall Council’s Cabinet considered options for the site as part of their wider update on office accommodation, and agreed to pursue negotiations, and received nine bids from seven separate bidders.
At today’s meeting the Cabinet  have been recommended to appoint Terrace Hill Properties Limited as the preferred bidder for part of the site and allow them three months to develop their proposal.

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Red carpet treatment for bride

Over the top Big Fat Gypsy Wedding-esque outrageous knot tyings are becoming common place, but St Austell bride Samantha Poser made the ultimate celebrity entrance to her wedding to Adam Kerby at the picture postcard country church in Luxulyan.
Unbeknown to the blushing bride, her father Phil had arranged a 200 metre red carpet to run from his house, across the main road and then through the village down to the church, much to the astonishment of not only the bride, but inquisitive villagers and motorists, too.

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£1m business park expansion

St Austell Bay Business Park continues to expand with 12 new units available from October 31 this year.
Work on the site has been well underway to complete the twelve new units which range from 1,250 sq ft up to 2,000 sq ft and are licensed for B2 (general industrial), B8 (storage or distribution), B1b (research and development of products or processes) and B1c (for any industrial purpose) use.
The St Austell site in Par Moor Road is already home to six basic units which were constructed around four years ago.  The project has been so successful that owners The Dainton Group decided to expand the offering, introducing a much-upgraded new facility to meet a growing demand.
Dainton has invested £1m in this project, this time engaging the services of Devon building company Curtis Construction along with Cornish architects, Studio Winter.

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Parents fined for truancy

Two sets of parents of pupils at Penrice Community College have been fined for failing to ensure that their children attend school on a regular basis.
The mother of a Year 11 pupil was fined £180, reduced from £275 as a result of an early guilty plea, and ordered to pay costs of £150 and a £15 victim surcharge at Bodmin Magistrates Court last week after pleading guilty to failing to ensure that her daughter attended school regularly. The court heard that the pupil had 47 unauthorised absences out of a possible 208 sessions.
In the second case the father of a Year 9 pupil was fined £65, reduced from £100 as a result of an early guilty plea, and ordered to pay costs of £75 and a victim surcharge of £15. The court heard that the pupil had 40 unauthorised absences out of a possible 206 sessions.

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Council orders sanctuary to close

St Austell MP Stephen Gilbert has described Cornwall Council’s decision to issue a Tortoise Sanctuary with a closure notice as “bureaucracy gone mad”.
The sanctuary in Sticker is home to just under 400 tortoises and has been open for 12 years.
Now, Cornwall Council are insisting that the sanctuary be classed as a zoo — and be subject to licensing fees and onerous regulations — or shut down. The council have decided that tortoises are ‘wild animals’ and not domestic pets, and therefore subject to the Zoo Licensing Act 1981.
On Thursday St Austell’s MP, Steve Gilbert, was at the Tortoise Sanctuary in Sticker with the owner Joy Bloor  (right) and local Cornwall Councillor Robin Teverson waiting for the council to deliver the notice that would enforce closure of the much loved sanctuary.
Despite several calls to Cornwall Council from both Mr Gilbert and Lord Teverson, the Council  failed  to respond to either of the local representatives. Council bailiffs finally delivered the closure notice after waiting for the politicians and press to depart.

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