About CarlyonBayWatch

Local Support

CarlyonBayWatch was formed in 2002 as an umbrella group for the various residents associations in the area who wanted to protect the interests of the community. Early on, to gauge local feeling and to establish an informal mandate for action and support, CBW organised a doorstop campaign with a petition calling for a public enquiry into the proposals. 929 signatures were gathered over 800 from the Carlyon Bay area - a high proportion of local households.

Bolstered by the tremendous local support behind the petition CBW organised an Information and Awareness Day in November 2003. This entailed an exhibition of some of the cautionary information we had uncovered during the campaign to date. It was given credibility by a panel of local experts with bearing on the case who were invited to an open debate on the issues. Again, it was keenly supported.

In February 2004 CBW organised a demonstration, drawing on the twin prongs of local opposition to the development and media interest in a good spectacle. In spite of the weather there was a rousing turnout of over 350 supporters and plenty of journalists.

Meanwhile, a member had tracked down a piece of legislation designed to protect areas like our beach. An application was made to register the beaches as a village green. During the CBW campaign to compile the evidence for the application, 63% of the households in the catchment area lent their support by supplying evidence statements. This tremendous community response bolstered the campaign morale at the time.

In June 2004 Restormel Borough Councillors listened to nearly 3 hours of debate about the proposals for the revised Sea Wall and beach re-charge proposals at Carlyon Bay Beach development. It was notable that the few voices who spoke in favour of the proposals came from local hoteliers, tradespeople and investors who might fairly be thought to have some commercial interest in the outcome of the meeting. However, the prevailing mood was a huge groundswell of support for a Public Inquiry among the large number who attended.

Local? Are you a stooge? A nimby? Or a potential CBW supporter? Take our short quiz and find out...coming to these pages soon.

On 30th October 2005 CarlyonBayWatch held a second successful and well attended Information and Awareness day on the Beach plans, exploring topics such as 'Flood Risk', 'Transport Impacts' and 'Local Ecology'. Read the experts reports here. There was a steady stream of visitors all afternoon and at 7:30pm the hall was packed for an audio visual presentation by CBW. Yet again, the CBW community mandate was confirmed by the attendance and the supportive tenor of the crowd.

The St Austell Bay community continues to support the campaign with emailed affirmations of the CBW stance on the beach, with offers of practical help and with generous donations. The local call for a Public Inquiry is loud and clear.

If you would like to be involved in our campaign, just contact us and we'll give you details on how you can help.