At a Cornwall Council planning meeting we heard from people both for and against a major development that will change the face of the Penzance coast today (Tuesday, May 28) before committee members made a decision. The local authority’s western area planning committee again discussed controversial plans to redevelop the Coinagehall Street area following a site meeting earlier this month.
Treveth – Cornwall Council’s development arm – proposed demolishing the PZ Gallery and other seafront buildings to create a development of 36 homes, including 11 affordable homes, and seven businesses, alongside the redevelopment of St Anthony Gardens.
The site, described as “sensitive” by planning agent Peter Bainbridge, is close to Jubilee Pool and the city’s harbour. He said: “There is a significant level of opposition, but also significant support.” The main concerns in terms of objections related to the loss of PZ Gallery, changes to St Anthony Gardens and the visual impact of Block D of the scheme, which contains both residential and retail units.
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Mr Bainbridge added that the positives included it being an allocated development site, a well-designed scheme, public benefits outweighing the damage to the area’s heritage, and no objections to the highways with only minor impact on the neighbors. He recommended that the committee approve this.
Julian Holder, a senior associate lecturer in architectural history at the University of Oxford and a former inspector of historic buildings at Historic England, said he had been asked to speak by some of the more than 200 objectors. “This application is an attack on the character of the Penzance Conservation Area,” Dr Holder said, adding that many of the existing buildings, including the PZ Gallery, have architectural significance. “In my professional opinion I would say it is the best of its kind in the country and represents Penzance nationally and internationally.”
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Gerry Penrose, representative of the Penzance Civic Society, said he was representing “hundreds of objections raised by concerned residents on the planning website, at three town hall meetings and by the council in its submission”.
“It is understandable that we are reaching the stage where we say ‘something is better than nothing’, but what is built now will be with us for the next hundred years. It shouldn’t be a short-term solution, but it should be the very best.” what we can do for Penzance and Cornwall The proposal misses a unique opportunity to give Penzance a new heart in this prominent location.’
Next to speak was Dick Cliffe, former Mayor of Penzance and current member of the Penzance Town Deal Board, who agreed an allocation of £3.6 million for the project. That government funding would be lost if a decision is not made by September.
“I and others view this site as a continuing eyesore and therefore a priority for development. Attempts to redevelop this site by private sector developers over the past twenty years have been thwarted: the site is complex and the economics marginal. This proposal is the fourth attempt and focuses on the neglected public domain of the area and is the first to meet local housing needs by offering rental properties, two-thirds of which are for local people.”
Current Mayor Stephen Reynolds’ personal view – as read out by Mr Cliffe – was that a revised design of St Anthony Gardens was a vast improvement on what was initially proposed and “goes a very long way towards addressing my concerns and that of the local community”.
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Dominic O’Neill from Treveth said the aim of the company was to provide homes and business opportunities for local people. He said historic England had no objection to the loss of views from Battery Road to St Mary’s Church, which was one of the biggest bugbears of opponents. He argued that the development, while prominent, would not compete with other significant buildings or compromise the setting of the adjacent Grade II listed anniversary swimming pool and church.
Local Cornwall Council member Jim McKenna said around 92 per cent of the “200-plus people” who had objected were concerned about the size and massing, particularly of Block D. He said the plan was still needs improvement.
“Time is clearly of the essence for the developers, and I assume for the council, to make a decision because of the £3.6 million public funding from Future High Streets, which needs to be spent quite quickly, but this should not happen.” putting aside the need to provide development befitting an iconic location.
Councilors such as Loveday Jenkin and John Thomas said that when they visited the site they felt that opening up the gardens could ruin their contemplative character and heritage aspect. Cllr Jenkin added that a number of concerns raised at the site meeting, including the size and design of Block D, had not been addressed by the developer.
Cllr Thomas proposed a refusal on the grounds of the “unsympathetic” design and massing of Block D, the loss of views of the Grade II listed St Mary’s Church plus the loss of character of the St Anthony Gardens and its location within the conservation area . The refusal was rejected after a vote.
Cllr John Keeling proposed giving planning officers delegated powers to grant approvals after several issues with Treveth were resolved. However, this was withdrawn following concerns from other councillors.
A final vote to approve the development was won with five votes in favor, four against and one abstention.
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