Langarth Village homes in Truro smallholder had heart attack

Mr Ali, who lives in countryside slap bang in the middle of what will become Langarth Garden Village, says he has had three years of hell dealing with the council which has caused him so much stress he suffered a heart attack which led to a triple bypass.

Mr Ali, who owns a smallholding – West Langarth Farmhouse – with his partner Sally, says the couple have been stuck in three years of limbo as they’ve battled with the council to find a fair price for their property. They want to be able to relocate in the Truro area and replicate their 2.5-acre smallholding where they rear rare breed sheep and keep a holiday rental caravan.

The couple say they are stuck in the middle of a bureaucratic “hellhole” and don’t know what to do after the council served a compulsory purchase order (CPO) for a strip of land across the bottom of their property which would mean they would no longer be able to run the caravan business.

Phil Ali with one of his lambs at his property in Langarth the new school playing field will replace the field behind him (Image: Lee Trewhela)

They believe their smallholding has been valued too low on behalf of the council and suggestions of similar homes to move to are not of an equal value and are in other parts of Cornwall such as Penzance and Camborne.

Part of the Government’s garden communities programme which aims to address national housing needs, the new Langarth ‘village’ will see almost 4,000 new homes built over a 20- to 25-year period, 35 per cent of which have been labelled as affordable for local people. It will also see the creation of new schools, health, cultural, faith, leisure and community facilities, and green areas with trees, walking and cycle ways.

The new school’s playing field will abut Mr Ali’s property and use three acres of land which his former neighbour allowed the couple to use for their sheep.

At a council meeting last month, Cllr Tudor said: “We must bring the community with us – engagement, engagement, engagement. Langarth cannot be another Saints Trail fiasco.”

Mr Ali responded: “It was a very nice line by Cllr Tudor but it doesn’t appear to stretch to us. She’s our councillor and I’ve left three messages on her phone and sent emails to her, and our MP Cherilyn Mackrory wrote to her on our behalf, but I haven’t received any response.”

The council has also issued a CPO on the lane leading to their property. “We’re in the middle of it and not knowing what to do,” said Mr Ali. Lifting up his shirt to show me the scars from his triple heart bypass operation, he added: “The stress of it all led to me having a heart attack and triple bypass. I went to a well-man clinic the year before and was declared fighting fit. My doctor suggested that stress could have caused it. The stress keeps escalating and we’re both losing sleep over it.”

Looking across a field at huge mounds of earth moved to make way for the development, Mr Ali told me: “We’re not averse to the council doing what they want to do, they’ve got the permission, but it does not fit with our lifestyle here, so we just want them to move us somewhere in the area where we can continue our lifestyle and take our sheep.

“The valuer [on behalf of the council] told us to start looking at properties. We’ve looked at 11. The only place we can find with the money they’re offering is in Penzance and it’s nothing like we’ve got here, there are no trees for a start, and why should we move to Penzance? When we bought this house 12 years ago we thought it was our ‘forever home’. I’ve spent about £200,000 extending it and doing other things on the house. I would never have spent the money if I knew this was going to happen.”

In order to try and safeguard their financial future, Mr Ali has applied for planning permission to build four houses on his land to raise the money to find a like for like property, as currently “we cannot afford to move anywhere else”.

He said: “We are not asking for pounds and pounds in the bank, we are just asking for a suitable home with land for our animals. But that sort of property is at a premium now, especially since Covid when people rethought where and how they want to live. We cannot afford to get out because they’re not offering us enough money to get out.”

Sally, who makes rugs from the sheep’s fleeces, said: “The last three years have been absolutely horrendous. I look after my mum who’s 85 in Truro and another lady in Point who is housebound so why should we have to move away from the area? I’ve had so many sleepless nights over this – I was up at 4am writing an email this morning.”

Her partner added: “The council don’t give us a realistic figure. We’re not looking for money in the bank, we just want a property like this in the Truro area. The council has got control over our lives and that’s so wrong.”

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A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: “We recognise that there are impacts on neighbours and we are committed to working with those directly affected, and their professional agents, to reach agreement on a way forward that takes into account the needs of all parties.

“Each phase of the development is communicated through various channels including face to face meetings, phone conversations, emails, engagement events and newsletters, to keep neighbours and stakeholders informed. We will continue to communicate any changes to the planned works, as sometimes happens when contractors or third-party infrastructure providers reschedule works.”

Cllr Tudor, who says she has spoken to the couple several times over the years, preferred not to make further comment.