Penryn Town Council vote on Commercial Road car park plans

Councillors met at a planning meeting to discuss a number of planning applications, including a controversial plan to install six 'moving on' temporary housing pods for those with short to medium-term accommodation needs at the commercial road car park.

In the meeting held on Tuesday evening (April 19), councillors heard from members of the public who gave their thoughts on the proposals before discussing it themselves.

Mr Ed Harkin was the first member of the public to speak during the meeting, and did so on behalf of Michael Cant, who had raised concerns about the security and privacy of the site.

Ed read from a letter written by Michael who said: "This development will build six pods at a loss of 30 per cent of the entire off-street parking places in the whole of Penryn, think about that for a minute.

"Worse than that, the developers have come up with an analysis to try to hide the true situation, based on average daily ticket sales during a pandemic, including Sunday's when you can't buy tickets and excluding season ticket holders like my wife and I.

An artists' impression of the pods.

In the application's design and access statement, the applicants had suggested that the carpark was being used at below its capacity and cited figures it claims were obtained from Council’s Car Parking Service that demonstrate the number of ticket sales across a peak period, July to December, saying: "On average a maximum of 28 spaces are in use (35%).

"This therefore provides justification for the loss of parking spaces and that the proposed retention of 32 spaces is adequate to meet local demand for this car park."

Next to speak was Mr Rob Watson, Principal Highways Officer at Cornwall Council who attended the meeting to speak in his capacity as a resident of Penryn.

Mr Watson said: "The numbers in relation to the application are based on an average.

"I'm well aware of that practice in making the numbers seem smaller than they need to be in order to make the application potentially seem rosier than it is."

Another resident told councillors: "What a great idea, I personally feel we shouldn't put hem outside somewhere, we should be bring them in to the community.

Mr Paul Hopkins, who has lived in Penryn for nearly 30 years said: "There is a real social need for housing, but it is not the need that is wrong, it is the location."

Councillor Mary May said: "Some three years ago, I would have said, 'have the car park and put the pods on them.'

The plans were scrutinised at a planning meeting held by the local town council.

"If we are going to turn it down, what we are supposed to do is offer an interim.

"My interim would be, just across the road, you have Saracen House which has two flats that have been empty for a considerable amount of time, plus Penryn Town Council's office which, this September, has been vacant for five years.

"Five years Cornwall Council has been paying council tax and no rent on that property."

"Two sites that are really ripe for the picking are Brook Place where there is 20 garages that are in a deplorable state. 

"It is a bit boggy down there but that can be overcome as it is in many places in Cornwall and throughout the UK.

"The other site is, a little bit more out of town, its Tanyard, Tremoughdale, there are approximately nine or ten garages that again have been empty for a very long time. 

"There is also land around the town that could be made accessible."
Councillor Wenmoth said: "The thing that concerns me is who are going in to these pods?

"Are they local? Or are they going to be imported from Manchester or somewhere else as usually happens?"

Councillors voted unanimously to recommend refusal to the planning application and a final decision will be made by Cornwall Council.