On the day that the Carlyon Bay 'Beach' development company announced its intention to drop the two most recent Applications to expand their scheme, the Residents action group, CarlyonBayWatch, responded by issuing a challenge Ampersand - Please sit down with us, and agree a new plan, restricted to the original brownfield site, which will comply with current environmental legislation, will take into account the many serious problems of the original scheme - and create a development of which our community can be truly proud.
CarlyonBayWatch spokesperson, Peter Browning expanded
"We have said all along that the permission granted in 1989 is deeply flawed, but the two supplementary Applications compounded the problems of the original plan because they would have made its impact more far-reaching. The fact that Ampersand have suddenly withdrawn those applications is no real surprise, we believe their decision represents the simple truth that these plans would not have stood up to the scrutiny of the forthcoming Public Inquiry - as we have maintained from the outset."
The two add-on planning Applications considered by Restormel Borough Council in June last year would, if granted, have created 30,000 square feet of retail space equivalent to an Asda-sized superstore on a unique coastal site with serious road-access problems. Aggravating the traffic problems in a Borough which has faced serious traffic congestion again this summer, these two withdrawn Applications would also have posed a threat to the viability of the redevelopment of St Austell town centre. Last year, Cornwall County Council made clear that they were contrary to the Country Structure Plan, the Highways Department raised serious concerns, and the Environment Agency stated that Planning Consent should not be granted until a Flood Risk Assessment had been officially approved.
Mr Browning adds, "Since we started our campaign last year, we have begun to realise that battling against an unpopular large development of this sort is a long process and has many twists and turns. This announcement is simply the latest twist. Planning law is highly complicated, and the planning history of the site at Carlyon Bay particularly so. Companies who purchase sites with extant permissions are often international experts at driving through those complications. We do not believe that the extant permission, retaining the Coliseum building, represents a favourable option for anyone involved, and we challenge any PR that says it is. CBW will now actively campaign for a full Environmental Impact Assessment of the proposed new Sea Wall design, and will continue its campaign for a new scheme of which our area can be truly proud".