News Archive

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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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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