Crinnis, Shorthorn and Polgaver beaches before clearing work began and barriers erected
Carlyon Bay Watch was formed by a group of local residents to try to preserve for the use
Carlyon Bay Watch was formed by a group of local residents to preserve for the use of local people and visitors alike three beaches at Carlyon Bay, near St Austell on the south coast of Cornwall, which are earmarked for a huge development of over 500 multi-storey dwellings - a 'village' the size of Mevagissey.
Planning permission for the scheme was originally given in 1990 for holiday homes on two of the beaches, Crinnis and Shorthorn, together with a sea wall with rock armouring. The permission included refurbishing and extending the existing entertainment and leisure facilities first built in the 1930s - the only previously developed area which occupied part of Crinnis Beach.
Carlyon Bay has been a popular resort since the early part of the 20th century. During the 1930s the complex, later known as Cornish Leisure World, was built as a spa with a splendid swimming pool, tea rooms and tennis courts - Edward and Mrs Simpson are reputed to have visited it.
The Cornwall Coliseum with Gossips nightclub in the early 1990s.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the Coliseum, with the addition of a Wimpey bar and nightclub, was a highly popular entertainment venue.
Carlyon Bay Watch (CBW) has no objection to a new use for the site - the only part of the Carlyon Bay beaches which can be described as 'brownfield' and which only covers part of Crinnis Beach. But the sheer scale of the intended development, given planning permission 20 years ago and never begun (but which the developers insist on saying they could still build) would spread concrete over two of the three beaches with buildings up to five storeys high down to the shoreline and obscuring the cliffs to the rear.
In the two decades since this original permission was given no construction has taken place (apart from a few wooden pegs in the ground to satisfy conditions of lawful commencement).
Revised plans were drawn up but withdrawn in 2004 when it became clear a Public Inquiry would be ordered. Then plans for a massive sea-defence scheme were rejected in 2007 by the government after a Public Inquiry and a long campaign spear-headed by Carlyon Bay Watch, together with objections from Cornwall County Council and the Environment Agency as well as other organisations.
In the meantime we are left with the eyesore that is the wreckage of the old Coliseum building, partially demolished by the developer, with piles of rubble along the beaches and with an illegal and ugly line of rusting steel shuttering - erected without planning permission as part of the rejected sea defence scheme. The developer was ordered to remove the shuttering by the then local authority, Restormel Borough Council, but was given until December 2010 to do so.
After the Coliseum closed its roof was removed, ancillary buildings were partially demolished and a line of shuttering erected in the tidal zone
Public access to the beaches has been another important issue surrounding this controversial scheme. The developer claims public access will continue - CBW says this would be permissive access and therefore could be denied at any time. At the moment members of the public can use the beaches - albeit with difficulty given the obstructions put in place by the developer which mean it is impossible to walk the length of the beaches at high tide. (Tide Times from the BBC)
In February 2010, six years after the route was blocked with fences and barriers, the route down the sole access road to Crinnis and across the old Coliseum site, used by the public for decades, was re-opened after it was officially recognised as a public right of way. This was a victory for local footpath campaigners, who also secured a recognised public footpath at the other end of the beaches - to Fishing Point on the eastern end of Polgaver. At the moment though, it is not clear how these two public rights of way will be affected by the development. (More on Public Access)
NEW APPLICATION
Now a new planning application is being drawn up for yet another revised scheme which not only persists in the number of 511 dwellings for Crinnis and Shorthorn beaches but for the first time includes 100 residential units. It also includes outline planning permission for the third beach, Polgaver, which has never had any planning approval attached to it. This application is expected to be submitted by the end of 2010. (More detail on the plans known so far)
"we must stop building in the danger zone" - New Scientist magazine July 2009.
"...we need to base planning policy on local need, not developer's greed." - Stephen Gilbert, local MP, July 2010.
".... it is aknowledged that the permitted leisure scheme is in substantial conflict with current planning policy and would not get permission if sought today." From the report of Mr J McPherson, Inspector at the 2006 Public Inquiry.
We reiterate that the idea of building even holiday homes, much less permanent residential units, at sea level on a beach is madness at a time of growing awareness of climate change and predictions of steadily rising sea levels. The beaches at Carlyon Bay have only one access road in and out and are backed by sheer cliffs. They are also regularly pounded by storms and are subject to flooding - indeed storm warning and evacuation procedures are anticipated by the developer to be essential for the proposals. The plans fly in the face of national and international policy on coastal development and expert opinion claims sea levels could rise even higher than so far predicted. (The implications of climate change and a sea defence expert says building residential units on the beach could be disastrous.)
Local people and visitors who have enjoyed the beaches for decades will be faced with buildings up to the height of the cliffs which would remove much of the beaches as we know them. In a bay flanked by Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, views of the shoreline and coastline would be obliterated. Developments in a coastal zone should be protected as one of Cornwall's greatest assets. At a time when green spaces are under ever increasing threat from development, this would remove a significant part of Carlyon Bay's natural open space. As the local MP Steve Gilbert has said: "... we need to base planning policy on local need, not developer's greed." Not only open spaces are under threat, but public services and infrastructure are increasingly under pressure in the St Austell area from other huge development schemes - including a 1,700 home proposal by Wainhomes and the massive "Ecotown" plans for 5,000 homes - 600 of which would be at a new marina development at Par Harbour less than a mile from Carlyon Bay.
The Carlyon Bay development would generate a massive increase in traffic movements (The traffic issue in detail) along the two residential roads through which all vehicles going to and from the beaches would have to travel. Figures agreed at the 2006 Public Inquiry showed an average of nearly 3,500 movements daily along these routes - one of which passes a school and a church. The other is privately owned and passes under a Grade Two listed railway arch which can only take one vehicle at a time. (More on the Brunel rail arch) This development is unique. It is proposed to put thousands of people, a fifth of them permanent residents, on a site which should never be considered for housing in the light of climate change and rising sea levels. It conflicts with government and international policy on coastal management and with other national policies. It should never be allowed to be built.
