Infrastructure and Local Resources

One element of concern among locals with regard to the development at Carlyon Bay is the impact it is going to have on the local infrastructure, roads, schools, amenities, water, sewerage, emergency services, dentists and doctors.

The original planning consent was granted in 1988. Since then the population of Cornwall has risen, car ownership has increased by 29 per cent.

Without the scrutiny of a public inquiry, we have no thorough current information on exactly how this development is going to affect the infrastructure of the area.

Traffic Impact

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) presented at the Council Planning meeting in 2005 contains a serious understatement of traffic impact, particularly in year one, upon people in Penwithick, Bugle, Carluddon, Par Moor and Cypress Avenue, already under traffic pressure, with no meaningful consultation.

Consider that because of the need for "re-nourishment" of the beach over the next 100 years plus, our grandchildren's grandchildren will face perpetual attack upon their amenity and environment.

The EIA quotes HGV traffic starting at 20 movements a day, increasing "steadily" to 100, then 200 and then 300 movements daily, to take 200,000 tonnes of "stent" (china clay waste) from Rocks Pit, near Penwithick in 15,000 lorry loads, of 13.5 cubic metres (That, even by their reckoning, is 30,000 h.g.v. movements).

PICTURE OF ARCH

Because of the Brunel Arch at Cypress Avenue, these loads must be of seven cubic metres, that's 28,500 loads. That's over 50,000 HGV movements, just for the initial work and, incidentally, the developer is now on record as saying it's 250,000 tonnes, not 200,000. Those extra loads will mean the initial build will create over 60,000 h.g.v. movements, with the A390 Holmbush Corridor traffic already officially agreed to be at saturation point. All this is against a background of an acknowledged increase in population of 20.5% since 1981 to over half a million people, and with a County Council forecast of a further 21.5% to 621,000 in the next twenty years with Restormel being the fastest growing of the six Cornish boroughs. What all that means is, of course, traffic, traffic and more traffic.

PICTURE OF TRAKKERS

Significantly, Mr Ray Trethewey, Officer from County Highways, stated, in reference to the possibility that the Beach development will go ahead based on the extant planning consent,

"We have to deal with what is in front of us and in front of us is a problem" He added, "When this (the Beach plans) came up for renewal in 1996 the comments from the County Surveyor were, 'please look at this afresh and do a reassessment' - that was not done......we cannot build our way out of traffic chaos."

The Traffic Consultants for the developer have admitted that the Holmbush A390 traffic is "saturated" and yet have not contested an estimate of 5,500 extra traffic movements daily from this development.