News Archive

Notices 'do not restrict access'

Commercial Estate Group (CEG), the company behind the Carlyon Bay Development, have made reassurances that they continue to remain committed to providing public access to the beach after signs were errected stating that it is private land and that visitors enter at their own risk.
Jon Kenny from CEG said: "We are doing this as a result of professional advice from our insurance company and lawyers.  As a landowner, it’s our duty to notify the public that they are entering private land and do so at their own risk but this is purely a formality and should give no cause for concern about our intention to allow local residents and visitors to use the facilities.
"The wording used on the signage has been prepared by our legal advisors as standard practice for a landowner as part of the permissive rights position. It does not in any way infringe on our guarantee to provide access to the beach and its facilities.
"Public access was a key feature of the unanimous decision by Cornwall Council to approve our planning application and we have always supported this initiative.
"Full details of how public access will operate in the Section 106 Agreement are displayed on the outdoor notice board beside the Information Centre on site for anyone who is interested in finding out more. A copy is also available in the Information Centre."

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Reprieve for disability day services

A LANLIVERY-BASED day service for disabled adults which was under threat of closure has been thrown a lifeline after disability charity Scope stepped in to run its centre at Churchtown.
National disability charity Vitalise announced earlier this month that it was pulling out of the Churchtown centre, which provides a vital service covering the St Austell area, after a strategic review.
Scope will take over as the provider of day services on September 28.
Around 70 local people with learning and physical disabilities who currently use the Churchtown service will be able to continue receiving its support.
Vitalise made the decision to transfer its operations at Churchtown to other providers because its 10-year lease on the site was due to expire in September.

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College housing goes to planners

An application to build 125 houses on the old St Austell College Trevarthian site has been put before Cornwall Council and could be decided as soon as November.
The three hectare site at Trevarthian Road has been unused since the college relocated the services to John Keay House in 2007. The site has already been partially demolished with the proposal now put forward by Taylor Wimpey to demolish the remaining college buildings and redevelop the site to comprise of 125 residential units, office accommodation and a local convenience store.
The proposal includes 87 market houses; 25 two bedroom houses, 35 three bedroom houses and 27 four bedroom houses as well as 38 social rented homes; 20 two bedroom houses, two three bedroom houses, two four bedroom houses and 14 one bedroom flats/maisonettes. Also on the site will be 210 car parking spaces, 298 square metres of internal shop floor space and 124 square metres of office space.

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Court date for incinerator challenge

A DATE has been set for the judicial review which will challenge the Government’s decision to give the go-ahead for a 240,000 tonne mass burning incinerator in St Dennis.
The case is expected to be heard at the High Court on Tuesday, October 10, and is scheduled to run for two days.
The challenge, under s.288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, will be a last chance saloon for the campaigners who have been fighting the plans to build the £117m incinerator on their doorstep for the past five years.
Now they are anxiously awaiting the outcome of the judicial review.
In May, following a lengthy public inquiry, Communities and Local Government Secretary  Eric Pickles recommended that planning permission be granted to SITA UK who are behind the controversial plans.

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Sex attack councillor spared jail

A ST AUSTELL town councillor found guilty of launching a sex attack on a male teenager walked free from court last Thursday.
Married dad-of-two Denis Bennett, 50, sexually assaulted the 18-year-old man at an address in St Austell in December last year.
He had denied all allegations claiming it was all part of his ‘act’ which involved him impersonating Hi De Hi’s Ruth Madoc and pretending to be Father Christmas, and was not of a sexual nature.
However, the former Liberal Democrat councillor for the Mount Charles ward admitted he may have gone a bit ‘over the top’.
But Bennett, 50, convicted by a jury of one count of sexual assault last month, escaped a jail sentence at Truro Crown Court last Thursday.
He was sentenced to a three year sex offender rehabilitation programme, ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years and told to pay £1,400 towards court costs.

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Vitalise services in the balance

CHARITY Vitalise 'remain hopeful' as discussions are set to resume over the fate of its Lanlivery-based  Churchtown Centre this week.
National disability charity Vitalise last week announced it was to cease operations at the centre later this year following a strategic review. The lease on the property is set to come to an end and the charity made the decision to refocus more of the charity’s resources at its three other UK respite break centres.
Vitalise operations at Churchtown will cease by September 9. The Churchtown activity centre closed on July 31 and the two accessible self-catering lodges in the grounds of Churchtown will close on August 31.
The charity also made the decision to withdraw from providing the day service at Churchtown, which is partly commissioned by Cornwall Council, on September 9 after discussions for the charity Scope to take over the service failed.

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SatNav hell for villagers

FED-UP residents in Goonamarris are demanding action to ban heavy goods vehicles from passing through their village after a series of collisions with their homes.
Villagers are call for signs to be erected prohibiting all heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and articulated lorries from using the narrow lanes which run past their homes over fears someone could be seriously injured.
Lynda Tucker, 46, who has lived in Goonamarris for 12 years, has seen her 19th century barn home hit six times by HGVs struggling to negotiate the junction next to her house towards St Stephen.
She said: “It’s just a nightmare. The thing that worries me is that I just have no idea what I’m coming home to sometimes. I once came home and saw that as a lorry had been trying to turn at the junction another car had come along and smashed right into my home. The driver had a broken leg and was lucky it wasn’t something more serious. The junction is just so dangerous.

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Eco homes to be demolished

A £2.5m eco friendly Restormel-sponsored housing development in St Austell is to be demolished before anyone has moved into the homes.
The development of Cedar Woods, the second phase of the Urban Village development between Polkyth Leisure Centre and Trevail Way, came to a halt in 2009 when the original developers Swan Country Homes went into administration. A St Austell Voice investigation revealed there were a number of structural problems with the construction.
It has now been confirmed that all the buildings are to be demolished.
The land, originally owned by Restormel Council, was sold to Devon and Cornwall Housing Association for £1, with £660,000 funding from the housing corporation and £190,000 from Devon and Cornwall Housing recycling grant fund put towards the project. Devon and Cornwall Housing Association are currently pursuing the recovery of costs through the administrator for Swan Country Homes.

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Charlotte Church in town

Welsh songstress Charlotte Church put in an unexpected appearance at the Eden Arts Café in White River Place last week when she watched her new partner Jonathan Powell and his band.
Hailing from Cardiff, Jonathan is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who released his debut album Forgive this Day in 2009 and was later invited to co-write several tracks for Charlotte’s latest album. Clearly love has blossomed for the taffy tunesmiths as they remain inseparable since Charlotte broke off with her ex, Welsh rugby international Gavin Henson, last year.
The singer turned prime time TV Diva was in the audience at the intimate venue that's already showing early signs of being a celebrity hangout since opening its doors earlier this year.
Manager Dan Ball was delighted to see his A list celeb: "Tonight was really chilled and special. Charlotte, as well as her children, really enjoyed the ambiance of the cafe and it was a pleasure to welcome her and Jonathan and I'm sure our guests enjoyed mingling with a true celebrity."

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Museum popular with visitors

AROUND two thousand history hungry visitors have passed through the doors of St Austell Museum to look at ancient artefacts from the town since it opened its doors in June.
Now in its third month, the museum has more than 200 visitors a week coming from near and far to look at the hub of memories within the Market House.
Since it’s opening in June, more historical artefacts marking St Austell’s history have been brought forward and donated to the museum including an iconic ash tray from the first Odeon cinema, an 1840 Tithe book of the parish listing all field names and landowners, and also a St Austell Brewery mortgage ledger dating from 1910.
Organised and developed by the St Austell Old Cornwall Society, the museum is now run by volunteers.

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