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 holiday dwellings - a 'village' the size of Mevagissey. 

Planning permission for the scheme was given in 1990 but it has never been carried out.  Revised plans were drawn up but withdrawn in 2004 when it became clear a Public Inquiry would be ordered.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. 

But the fight is by no means over.  New proposals have now been drawn up  (September 2009) with the co-operation of County planning officers as part of preparations to submit a new planning application for the whole development which may even propose permanent residential units.  

The developers say they have addressed various issues raised at the Public Inquiry.  Details at the moment are unknown, partly because the developers say they haven't yet drawn up their plans. The new plans will be examined as more details become available, but we reiterate that the idea of building even holiday homes, much less permanent residential units, on a beach is madness at a time of growing awareness of climate change and predictions of steadily rising sea levels. This seems borne out by the New Scientist magazine in July 2009 which states that "we must stop building in the danger zone" and claims sea levels could rise even higher than so far predicted.  We shall continue to campaign for an environmentally-sensitive, proportionate, safe and sustainable development, restricted to the existing brownfield site of the old Coliseum complex on Crinnis. 

(Why there is a danger from flooding and a sea defence expert says building residential units on the beach could be disastrous".) 

These new proposals follow three years of delay and appeals following the Public Inquiry in 2006 and the Secretary of State's decision in 2007.  First Ampersand appealed the decision, claiming that the Government Inspector and the Secretary of State were "irrational" to turn down the plans.  That appeal was due to be heard on 1st December 2008 at the High Court in London but was then delayed again, seemingly indefinitely. 

In the meantime we are left with the eyesore that is the wreckage of the old Coliseum building, 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.  Ampersand was ordered to remove the shuttering by the then local authority, Restormel Borough Council, but was given until December 2010 to do so.  It appealed against that order as well with a hearing due at some date in 2009.  That appeal was then withdrawn, so now we wait to see when the shuttering and huge rocks dumped in front of it are removed.   

Carlyon Bay now 

The shuttering means most of the beach is cut off at high tide.

As this photo (taken in December 2006)shows, the shuttering and the line of massive boulders dumped in front of it mean it is impossible to walk the length of the beach at high tide.  

Before Ampersand began work, members of the public were able to walk along the beach whatever the state of the tide and through woodland at the rear - much of which has now been destroyed.  (A local man's memories of cycling down to Crinnis, an old map showing the original track down to the beach and the unresolved issues of footpaths are on our public access page). 

1970s postcard showing holidaymakers enjoying the whole length of the 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. 

During the 1970s and 1980s, the Coliseum, with the addition of a Wimpey bar and nightclub, was a highly popular entertainment venue.  
CBW has no objection to a new use for the derelict site - the only part of the Carlyon Bay beaches which can be described as 'brownfield'.

The sheer scale of the original intended development, given planning permission 19 years ago and which the developers insist on saying they could still build, would spread concrete over two of the three beaches.  Buildings up to five storeys high would cover them down to the shoreline and up the cliffs at the rear, as well as a massive sea wall. 
Proposals in 2005 to build a bigger sea defence scheme, which entailed artificially extending the beach area in front of the sea wall, needed new planning permission and after much hard work by Carlyon Bay Watch to raise public awareness of the various environmental and safety issues, the plans were 'called in' by the Government.  

During the five weeks of hearings in November and December 2006, Cornwall County Council and the Environment Agency joined Carlyon Bay Watch in arguing against the sea defence proposals.  The planning inspector subsequently reported that the scheme breached government policies on sustainable development, building in a coastal zone and on the undeveloped coastline of Cornwall.  He also said traffic generated by the planned beach recharge would cause "material residual harm to amenity and to some extend highway safety considerations".  (More on the Public Inquiry).  Ruth Kelly, who had replaced John Prescott as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Development, agreed with the inspector's recommendation and refused permission for the new sea defence scheme in June 2007.