Portreath locals upset at affordable homes plan

They want to protect wildlife

A meeting of a Cornish parish council has heard that a controversial plan to build affordable homes at the entrance to a coastal village is splitting the community, with one councillor warning people to stop the issue “being quite so divisive”. He said people in support of the scheme felt too intimidated to attend the meeting.

Coastline Housing and Redruth-based Classic Builders are proposing to build 22 bungalows on land owned by Portreath Parish Council at Cambrose, near Portreath. The site is a former WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force) base which was used for housing and workshops to support the war effort during and after the Second World War.

The council’s planning committee met on Monday, July 31 to consider and approve the plans for the housing development before a full planning application is submitted to Cornwall Council later this month.

Since the plans were first mooted, some residents of the parish including members of Portreath Climate Action Network have protested, hanging banners on the site boundary as they believe the land is a vital wildlife haven and should be protected. Concerns have also been raised about a lack of infrastructure around the site, which is two miles outside Portreath.

Residents packed this week’s meeting, which was said to be the largest attended in the council’s history, with opponents of the scheme holding banners outside St Mary’s Church Hall, the meeting venue.

During an opening public participation session Portreath resident Sara Clasper said she was “speaking for nature as it has no voice”. She asked those present to show their support for nature and over-development in the village by standing up and a great many did.

“In 2020 this parish declared a climate emergency – you all agreed you have a duty to limit all negative impact of climate breakdown. Your proposal to site 22 houses on an existing nature-rich piece of land contradicts every element of your agreement,” she added.

“The WAAF site is totally inappropriate for social housing. It’s an important wildlife site – we must protect what remains of our natural environment as that is key to our long-term sustainability. Secondly, this site is two miles from the village – one mile of dangerous road to the nearest bus stop. Households will have no choice but to drive. This is not sustainability.

“This development will not create a cohesive community – it will create social isolation. When will you consult the parish about what they want with their land?”

She asked for an assurance that no further “damage” is done to the site until a decision is made by Cornwall Council. Her speech was greeted with loud applause and cries of “hear, hear”.

Keith Tippett, who owns fields adjacent to the former WAAF site said he wanted a “cast iron guarantee” that every fibre of asbestos, which is believed to be on the land, would be removed if the development went ahead. Coastline Housing’s Georgina Hayman later said if any asbestos was found it would be dealt with in the appropriate manner.

Other members of the public accused the council of already making up its mind about the proposal, and one woman stated: “I have got three children who all want homes but this is not the right place.”

Before running through the chain of events which have led to the application by Coastline Housing and Classic Builders, council chairman Ian Stewart said a lot of things were being said on social media that were totally wrong and it was causing ill-feeling in the parish.

He stressed that the council process had been “open and transparent” throughout. “If people don’t come to meetings or read minutes, we cannot knock on everybody’s doors,” he added, suggesting that some parishioners should have got more involved in the earlier stages of the process.

Cllr Stewart explained that the purpose of Monday night’s meeting was to ratify the legal agreement the council had as landowners before the plans were formally lodged with Cornwall Council for a decision. That didn’t stop members of the public calling for the planning committee to throw out the proposals.

Presenting the plans, Coastline’s development manager Ms Hayman said there were currently 57 households in need of housing in the parish and the 22 100% affordable bungalows, if approved, would only go to people with connections to Portreath. She added that there had been no affordable housing offer in the area since 2016.

Addressing some of the concerns raised, she said Coastline was consulting with Cornwall Council and Go Cornwall for a potential bus stop outside the development alongside amended bus services and added there would be a biodiversity net gain of 10%.

Concerns were aired about two badger setts on the site and Ms Hayman said they would not be disturbed or cleared, and Coastline was looking at the possibility of moving them to an artificial sett elsewhere on the site if building commences.

A resident said she understood the need for houses but believed there must be a better site and asked Ms Hayman what she honestly thought of the proposals personally. The Coastline Housing representative replied: “I think this is a wonderful opportunity for the village.”

With just one woman putting her hand up in support of the plans, Cllr Simon Goodwin told those opposing the scheme: “You’re very well organised – a lot of people feel very intimidated. I know you are very passionate, but there are a lot of people in this parish speaking to me and other councillors saying there’s a need for this.”

He added that those in support of the proposal said they didn’t want to come to the meeting as they felt intimidated but would make their feelings known when the matter comes to the planning stage.

He told the meeting: “You have to recognise that not everybody sees it from your point of view. We need to stop it being quite so divisive.”

Ms Hayman said that at a public consultation in July “we had people saying that it would be the dregs of society” living on the site and there would be anti-social behaviour as a result. “These are local people in your community,” she stressed. “I spoke to a young mum who is desperate for somewhere to live. A lot of onus is given to the ecology of this site and not the people.”

A planning submission to Cornwall Council is expected in late August, which if approved would see construction start in spring 2024.