Cornwall Council is promising that homeless families will finally move into a holiday park that the council bought for emergency housing but has remained empty for almost two years.

The council purchased Sandbank Holidays, near Hayle, in January 2022 as part of a £15 million property package to provide temporary housing.

However, neighbours of the site say it is still empty – despite the council stating at the beginning of August that residents would be moving in within the “coming weeks”.

Now into October, a resident of Upton Towans, where the former holiday park is based, told us: “The place is still empty even though Cornwall Council said it would be moving people in within two weeks and works would be carried out. More than a month has past now.”

A Cornwall Council spokesperson said: “We’re identifying clients to move into the properties with a view to moving people in over the next fortnight.”

There was dismay in May last year when it was revealed the site, which includes 16 apartments and three bungalows, was still empty.

A local resident told us at the time: “They can’t just spend millions of pounds on buying the holiday park for emergency accommodation and then just leave it empty for months. I can’t believe how long they’ve stayed empty for during a housing crisis.”

Now – almost two years on from the purchase – the site continues to remain unused. Sandbank was used by the council as emergency accommodation during the early months of the Covid pandemic, as part of the Government’s Everyone In scheme. Following the purchase of the site, a spokesperson for the council said it was being refurbished and would be used as ‘dedicated’ temporary accommodation once complete.

The former Sandbank holiday park, near Hayle, is still standing empty despite the council purchasing it for emergency housing. The council promises residents will move in within days (Image: LDRS)

The former Sandbank holiday park, near Hayle, is still standing empty despite the council purchasing it for emergency housing. The council promises residents will move in within days (Image: LDRS)

A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said in August: “The purchase and refurbishment of the holiday park is intended to provide good quality temporary accommodation for 20 families. The holiday park required a significant amount of work to bring it up to a good standard and meet the need of future residents, including the removal of asbestos.

“Although these works have taken longer than originally anticipated, the final works are in the process of being completed and we are ensuring that the safety certification is in place, which we need to do before the homes can be occupied. We anticipate that all works will be complete within the coming weeks, at which point we can welcome the first residents to the properties.”

They added: “Providing housing for our residents is a top priority as Cornwall continues to experience extreme and unprecedented pressures on housing.

“The steps we have taken to improve the situation include the provision of emergency and temporary accommodation so that residents are not housed in B&Bs or hotels. But we are also working to provide housing through investment in our own stock of accommodation including the holiday park, new modular homes, buying and refurbishing disused properties and providing dedicated ‘move on’ accommodation to support former rough sleepers to help people find settled, permanent homes.”