Heartlands attraction Cornwall closes down: vandalism starts

After the National Lottery pulled its funding, citing the sprawling site was unsustainable, the Heartlands Trust announced the attraction would have to close, meaning 26 staff lost their jobs today (Wednesday, January 31) and the museum, Red River Café, Wheal Play soft play centre and Chi an Bobel conference centre have all permanently closed.

Those traders, tenants and residents still remaining on the desolate site are now concerned about their futures, saying they haven’t heard anything from landowner Cornwall Council. The chairman of the trust told us that the council has not given commercial and residential tenants any details of contacts for maintenance and security after today.

Jacky Blakeway has run Magnetic Earth Studios crystal shop in the retail quarter of Heartlands since soon after the attraction opened. She said she’d had a “meltdown” today and was feeling highly emotional saying goodbye to the staff who have been a vital part of her life.

She said: “A senior member of Cornwall Council has reached out to us with regard to our collective and individual needs as commercial units, but as yet we have no contact information with regard to emergencies, ongoing studio maintenance or site security.

Heartlands has shut (Pic: Lee Trewhela / LDRS)

“Anti-social behaviour will become an issue if the site is left derelict. In fact, it’s already started happening. There are a lot of stones across the site which are being thrown in the water containers and a window had been smashed this morning. Things have started going missing too, including a picnic bench.”

Jacky said she has heard passers-by saying the retail units will close as well. “We want to assure members of the public that the businesses here are still trading as usual,” she stressed.

“I’ve watched 27 businesses go from this part of the site in the 11 years I have been here; creative enterprises that members of the public – even in the locale – were not aware existed. Poor marketing, a lack of curiosity from the wider public and an appalling lack of signage on site has all contributed to the lack of footfall.

“Add to that ticketing of events so that access to the commercial units was limited or non-existent and that was the kiss of death for many of the creatives here.”

READ MORE: 

• Shock and anger among staff at doomed Cornish tourist attraction
• Staff at doomed Heartlands plead for one more month’s employment
• National Lottery explains why it pulled funding from ‘unsustainable’ Heartlands

She said the positioning of the now closed museum and soft play centre had created an invisible barrier to the retail sector.

Jacky added: “I have always felt an integral part of the site and yet the communication between operations and the paying units has always been a fighting battle. When we are successful it contributes to the overall success of the site – cohesion between all levels was sadly lacking.

“My own future hangs in the balance... I don’t see that we can ‘mothball’ a site that cost in excess of £30 million to create. I’m hoping from the ashes something good will rise.”

A desolate Heartlands on the day of its closure (Pic: Lee Trewhela / LDRS)

Stuart Soffe, who runs Canary Chiropractic next door to Jacky’s shop, is particularly worried about the maintenance of his premises and the rest of the site, as are all the remaining businesses. “There is a chance positive things could be coming, but there are concerns,” he told us.

Surrounding the site are a large number of residential properties, occupied by leaseholders and rental tenants. Many of them are worried about the upkeep of their homes.

David Collins has been living in his flat for 18 months. In an ideal position, the living room overlooks the once bustling open courtyard featuring the dramatic engine house. It’s now completely dead. “If you want to live somewhere peaceful and tranquil, there’s nowhere better,” he joked.

“I asked the staff what the council had told them about the future of the site and the properties. Nothing. We’ve heard nothing from the council. Your guess is as good as mine. It’s disgusting.”

David added: “We pay service charges and everything to Heartlands. Who do we pay now? This is our council and their property. The least they can do is keep us in the loop.

“I had a nice little bungalow in Tolgus, but wanted to move somewhere smaller after my wife died. I thought this place would be ideal – there was a thriving café and it was really popular. To face this now is demoralising.”

David Collins, who bought a property at Heartlands, says the situation is demoralising (Pic: Lee Trewhela / LDRS)

Like others, he fears vandalism, saying there were staff employed to oversee security, but doesn’t know what will happen now.

Speaking on Tuesday following a meeting between the Heartlands Trust and Cornwall Council, the trust’s chairman David Sillifant said: “Unfortunately the meeting changed very little. The trust will cease trading tomorrow and it will be the end of employment for our staff.

"It is terribly sad – the Lottery will not allow any further access to our endowment to keep anyone on, even for a managed wind down. You can imagine how devastated the staff are.

“We have pressed the council for information on their plans for the future of the site, and arrangements for the commercial and residential tenants. We have not been supplied with any answers or details of whom tenants should contact if they need to. Those tenants to whom we have spoken are not happy.”

Mr Sillifant added: “It is unfortunate that an orderly transfer doesn’t seem within our grasp.”

A sign marking the permanent closure of Heartlands makes for sad reading (Pic: Lee Trewhela / LDRS)

A spokesperson for the local authority said: “The council is committed to maintaining public access to the parks and gardens at Heartlands, once the trust’s legal obligations under the lease and management agreement come to an end.

"The council will carry out an assessment and if necessary undertake works so that they can safely remain open. The registration service and commercially let shops and offices remain open.”