Langarth to get 88 acre park near Truro for new homes in Cornwall

Cornwall Council’s strategic planning committee agreed to grant planning permission for the new park this week.

Governs Park, as it will be known, will be an 88-acre park that will offer a 2.5km circular walk for visitors and residents of Langarth Garden Village.

The planning application was the first reserved matters application to be approved for the new development after outline planning permission was previously approved for the overall garden village.

Cornwall Council itself had applied for planning permission for the new park as it is leading the plans for the garden village with its own development company Treveth working on the scheme.

Council planning officers had recommended that the plans be approved saying that it would provide “substantial public benefit of allowing access to currently private land, an appreciation of the Penventinnie Round scheduled monument and the delivery of early strategic green infrastructure”.

The park is also designated as a Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG) which aims to attract residents of new developments away from protected areas such as Penhale Dunes. The new park would have a number of facilities within it including benches, signage, canopies and footpaths.

There had been concerns about the amount of parking spaces being provided for the new park but local Cornwall councillor Dulcie Tudor said she was not concerned about that as the new park would be in walking distance of anyone living in the new garden village as well as for people visiting from Truro.

Aerial view of the proposed location for the new Governs Park which would be part of Langarth Garden Village (Image: Google)

Councillor Rob Nolan said there were concerns that the car park could be used by staff from the nearby Royal Cornwall Hospital, stopping park users from parking there. He suggested that the council put conditions in place to prevent this.

An objection to the proposals had been raised by Richard Walker from Walker Developments which owns Willow Green, the proposed site of a housing development. He said that the proposed road access to the park would cut across his company’s land.

He said: “We do have objections to the road through our land. It takes out the most level part of the site and it affects 72 new residential units (planned for the site). This creates a costly effect on the remainder of the land.”

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Mr Walker told the committee that his company had proposed two alternative access routes which he said would be better and would also protect the land earmarked for development. When questioned he confirmed that planning permission previously granted for Willow Green had lapsed and that his firm was due to submit new plans shortly.

The committee heard that maintenance and upkeep of the new park would be the responsibility of Treveth and that it was committed to carry out this role.

Cllr Tudor said that she had been to the site and had been impressed by what was being offered with the new park. She also highlighted that the park would be put in place at the same time as new homes would be built so that it would be ready for when people move in.

She said she was “delighted” that the new park would give people the chance to explore the historic monument of the round and the wider area whilst also protecting wildlife habitats in the area.

The planning committee agreed to approve the plans as set out with seven votes in favour, two against and one abstention.