Life in only high rise flat in Cornwall with Ocean Housing

Rose has lived in Cornwall’s only high rise block of flats for more than 30 years and it is clear she loves her two-bedroom apartment.

Decked out in posters of Elvis Presley and Daniel O’Donnell and surrounded by ornaments lovingly displayed in a glass-fronted dresser, Rose explains what it is like to live in Park House, St Austell.

“People look out for each other here, they will visit one another and check they are OK, I have made quite a few friends over the years.”

Rose says that many people are surprised at how large the flats are in the building and says she thinks her two-bedroom flat is “lovely”.

Built in 1968 Park House has 11 floors with 67 flats – 21 are one-bedroom properties and the rest have two bedrooms.

The 36-metre high building has been managed by Ocean Housing since 2000 when it took over social housing stock from Restormel Borough Council.

Now the housing association rents out 47 of the flats in the building with the remainder being leaseholder occupied.

Looking back through the archives to find out how Park House was built, a House of Commons debate from 1958 gives some clues as to why such housing might have been needed.

In fact, reading back through the debate, led by then Truro MP Geoffrey Wilson, there are some similarities to the housing crisis which is now being experienced in Cornwall.

Back in 1958 it was the acceleration of the China Clay industry which was providing a need for more homes in the St Austell area.

Mr Wilson told the house: “It is not at all surprising that the small town of St Austell should be prosperous and growing or that the urban district council, despite its very good housing record, should have been quite unable to overtake the acute housing shortage which was caused during the war.

“In the last three years, the St Austell Urban District Council has built 138 houses, and a further 110 have been built by private enterprise, while 52 council houses are at present being built.

“Nevertheless, in this town of 23,000 inhabitants, there are 1,000 families on the waiting list for council houses. Taking a family as averaging, perhaps, three or four, and on the whole Cornish families are large, that means that something like one-sixth or one-seventh of the total population are on the housing waiting list. That is a high proportion.”

This might explain why such a high density of housing, like that at Park House, might have been needed when it was constructed in the 1960s.

But it remains unique in being the only one of its kind in Cornwall and is unclear why there were not more built as in other parts of the country. Ralph Garth, head of health, safety and environment at Ocean Housing, says it is a question he can’t answer either.

An archive image of Park House in St Austell

Ralph says that the building itself is in a good condition and that Ocean has helped to keep it safe with regular checks and a recent decision to install sprinklers in every flat following the Grenfell fire disaster in London.

Ocean is also set to install a new lift system in the building, replacing the current lifts which have reached the end of their life.

Ralph said that being responsible for the only high rise block of flats in Cornwall was unique but said that Ocean had worked to ensure the safety of residents.

He explained that Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service has a good relationship with Ocean and uses the building for training exercises and carries out regular checks to ensure fire safety.

Ralph said: “We take fire safety seriously and we want to make sure all our residents are safe. The building is very safe structurally and the investment we have made in sprinklers has made it even safer – hopefully that will make sure that if there is a fire nobody loses their lives.”

Michelle Banks has lived in Park House for around nine years having moved down from Harlow in Essex where high rise buildings are more commonplace.

She said that when she told people back in Essex that she lived in the only high rise flats in Cornwall they were surprised.

Looking out from her seventh floor window she said that she had seen a lot of changes over the years, having a unique bird’s eye view across the town.

Michelle said that there was a good community spirit in the building and said that she had got to know people on her floor well.

Ann-Marie Rogers is neighbourhood services manager for Ocean and a regular visitor to Park House where she will speak with residents and deal with any issues they might have.

She has a role in safeguarding and older people’s issues as well as the Lifeline service which some residents use.

“We come into contact with a lot of people and make sure they are OK – there is a caretaker here at Park House and as well as the standard things he does he will also chat with residents as well.

“With Covid we have been doing a lot of welfare checks to make sure that people are able to get what they need. Not everybody has family that they can rely on so it was important that we did that.

“But there is also a good spirit here and residents will look in on each other to make sure everybody is OK. Some people could get quite lonely during lockdown and it is really nice to see that community spirit in action.”