Carlyon Bay residents action group, CarlyonBayWatch, who have been campaigning for the Ampersand Beach development to be exposed to the full scrutiny of a public inquiry, were delighted yesterday at the announcement that an inquiry is to be held.
In response to the decision announced by the Government Office South West, CarlyonBayWatch spokesperson, Peter Browning commented,
"This is indeed good news. Members of our group have been meeting with the developers representatives since Spring 2003 and as time has gone on our concerns have mounted. There were so many unanswered questions about the real future impact of a new build on the scale of the Beach proposals, that a full public inquiry seemed the only way to properly address them."
The original planning consent was granted in 1989 but under very different circumstances to those which exist today. Following Ampersands acquisition of the site and the announcement early last year of their plans, many statutory bodies and organisations such as English Nature, Friends of the Earth, The Cornwall Wildlife Trust, The Campaign for the Preservation of Rural England, The Environment Agency, Cornwall County Council and Charlestown School had raised objections, or called for further information relating to the impact of the project.
The CarlyonBayWatch group picked up on these objections and in June 2003 canvassed the area to gauge local opinion. The results were surprising - nearly 950 signatures and letters were collected calling for a public inquiry - and donations began to flood in. The CBW campaign gained momentum and impetus from this strong local feeling and the group subsequently had considerable success in drawing the attention of local and national journalists to probe the issues further.
Mr Browning adds,
"Our message has been from the beginning that the Beach development is just too big for the St Austell Bay area. We would again stress that we are not against all or any potential development on the beach, but rather are campaigning for one restricted to the size of the footprint of the site taken up by the Coliseum presently. Not enough is known about the future impact the full proposals will have on the environment, on the infrastructure and on the direction of Tourism in south Cornwall generally.
Over the months we have compiled some serious evidence to give pause to the kind of "progress" which the Beach development represents. We now hope we will have an opportunity to air that evidence to due democratic process in the forthcoming public inquiry."
CBW was formed as an umbrella group covering various residents associations in the area, in response to concerns about the holiday development to be built across Crinnis, Polgaver and Shorthorn beaches. A selection of members have been meeting regularly with representatives of the development company, Ampersand, since Spring 2003.