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Camelot Country Community Development Plan This Plan has been developed by the Community of Camelford, Delabole and the surrounding area of North Cornwall with support from the South West Market and Coastal Towns initiative 2002-2004 SBD Associates December 2004

 

 

Camelot Country
Community Development Plan

Foreword and Acknowledgements 2
Here is Camelot Country 4
Who’s in Camelot Country? 5
Introduction: The Story So Far 6
Section One: The Starting Point 10
Section Two: The Community Vision 12
Section Three: The Projects 14
Section Four: The Process 18
Section Five: The Strategy 23
Section Six: The Obstacles 32
Section Seven: The Background 38
Appendices:
Reports and strategies relevant to this Plan
10 top issues raised in public consultation
Briefing Note on Affordable Housing (SBD Assocs May 2004)

Foreword
from the Chair of Camelford and Delabole Community Development Trust

Camelford and Delabole Community Development Trust was set up in 2001 by community volunteers from Camelford Forum and the Delabole Development Group, coming together to develop ideas for regenerating our area. In 2002 the Trust took on the role of facilitating a Market and Coastal Towns initiative for the surrounding area.

Producing the Camelot Country Community Development Plan (as it is now known) has taken several years planning and has involved working in partnership with many outside bodies, such as the South West Regional Development Agency, North Cornwall District Council, Cornwall County Council, parish and town councils and other like minded interested parties. The Trust also organised two major public events known as the Michaelmas Fairs, where the general public put forward their ideas of how they wished to see the area go forward in the future. The ideas gathered from all these sources have now been collated and placed into this Plan. The wish list of development has been prioritised. As you will learn from reading this Plan, our strategy calls for sustainable economic development (including more local employment) sustainable housing development (at prices that local people can afford) a sustainable local transport system and an educational system that will enable local students to live and be educated locally.

All of this Plan would not have been possible without the dedication of the local volunteers who have spent untold hours working up projects for inclusion in the Camelot Country Plan. These ideas, when supported by other outside bodies and the main funding agencies, will make our area a happy, vibrant and economic place to work, live and play. We now look forward to receiving the support needed to carry out local ambitions.

I would like to thank all those who have worked together to get us this far, and look forward to your support in the future.

A. J. Shaw
(Chair CDCDT)
November 2004

Acknowledgements

The MCTi process in Camelot Country has been funded by the following organisations – our thanks to them for their support.

Front Cover: ‘Moor to Shore’ by Liz Gregory
This mixed media painting by a local artist celebrates the natural and manmade environment of Camelot Country. It was commissioned for Camelot Country’s first Michaelmas Fair Public Consultation event at the Gaia Centre in 2002 and is reproduced here by kind permission of the artist.

This is
Camelot
Country

Introduction:
The Story So Far
1. In 2001, a group of local volunteers set up the Camelford and Delabole Community Development Trust (CDCDT) to carry forward regeneration plans for the two communities. A year later, the new Trust successfully applied to the Market and Coastal Towns initiative for the task of preparing a Community Development Plan that would cover not just these two communities but also the surrounding area of North Cornwall.
2. Because this Plan is about the whole of this area of North Cornwall (not just Camelford and Delabole) we needed a distinctive name for the project. After much consultation and debate, we chose….
……Camelot Country
….to reflect the heritage of myth and magic that makes our part of the world so special.
3. This Plan, the result of nearly two years consultation and discussion with local people and organisations, is intended to help us all protect this unique character, and also to help us all tackle the very real challenges that we are facing. It offers a blueprint of the changes we need to see over the next 10-20 years if this area is to flourish.
4. Pulling together the ideas, and drawing up this Plan, was only the start of the process. We now need to put these ideas into effect. The Trust has been fortunate to secure funding from the Lankelly Foundation for a Community Development Officer (who starts work in November 2004) to co-ordinate the next stage and further develop the projects identified in this Plan. We are now well placed to move onto the next challenge, which is to secure more partnerships and the funding to make our ideas happen.
5. The initiative has already had an impact. Although the MCTi programme encourages community groups to step back from the usual pre-occupation with projects, in order to take a long hard look at the bigger picture, it does encourage funding ‘Quick Wins’ that allow the community to see that something is happening and that change is possible. The Trust decided to tackle some local concerns directly as part of our MCTi Programme:
i. We recruited a Community Agent to set up a Local Food programme, devising a branding for local produce (the ‘Dolly Delicious’ logo and the strapline ‘Get Fresh, Go Local’) which was enthusiastically taken up by local retailers, particularly in Camelford.
ii. We also recruited a community agent to address the issues relating to younger people in the area; this produced a report recommending the establishment of a Youth Forum.
iii. With the support of the NCDC Community Development Officer, we developed ambitious plans for a community bus to provide a service linking Camelot Country in a figure of eight route. In order to protect the environment, the buses would be hydrogen powered. The project passed the feasibility stage but has so far not secured support from funders. We are pleased to say however that in the interim the route is being taken forward by Cornwall County Council using diesel powered vehicles. (The innovative ‘green’ bus service is also taken up in the new plans for a Great Atlantic Highway project to regenerate the whole North Cornwall area).
iv. We also achieved a success in the adoption by Cornwall County Council of our proposal for a multi-use trail linking Camelford and Delabole. This is now being taken forward as part of a wider project linking the popular Tarka and Camel Trails.
v. In Camelford, the Trust worked with the town Forum, Camelford Town Council and NCDC to secure a Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme (HERS), a programme for providing financial help to encourage the conservation and enhancement of key historic buildings and street features in the Camelford Conservation Area. The HERS initiative demonstrates a partnership between CDCDT, Camelford Forum, Camelford Town Council, NCDC, English Heritage, SWRDA and ERDF.
vi. We are currently working with the Forum and Councils to develop plans to improve Enfield Park, and for road safety and street furniture improvements within the town.
vii. Trustees from Delabole are helping carry forward plans for a multi-purpose community centre in that community, and are investigating the possibilities for a locally managed Affordable Housing scheme. The information gathered during this project has been collated into a Briefing on Affordable Housing which has been circulated to parishes (see appendix c).
viii. The evidence we compiled during preparation of the Healthcheck helped make the case for Broadband in Camelford (installed in early 2004).
ix. We also supported community projects such as the Real Nappy Campaign (we found a local agent for them) and the Camelford Youth project saw us working with the Forum to provide a youth centre and skateboard park.

6. So as well as developing the wider strategic picture , the MCTi programme in Camelot Country has produced and supported progress across a whole range of projects, and. CDCDT now has an established track record of project management and innovative thinking.
7. We are now looking to move forward, building on this track record and on the Partnerships with other agencies developed over the past two years. We are also looking forward to spreading the word further, engaging more local residents in the process, and developing new partners. Our remit was to look 20 years to the future and there will be many changes ahead. This Community Development Plan will also continue to grow and change over the coming years. It is a living document.
8. This initial consultation stage was funded by the South West’s Market and Coastal Towns initiative (MCTi) and NCDC. We would like to thank these organisations for their support, and look forward to working further with them in the future.

Section One
THE STARTING POINT

This is the SWOT ANALYSIS of Camelot Country as it is now that emerged from consultation.
STRENGTHS
o diverse and striking natural and man made environment
o environmental profile – site of 1st windfarm
o a strong tradition of independence and self reliance
o strong community spirit and active ‘grassroots’ activity across the area, with people caring passionately about where they live
o track record of successful community projects
o economic base that is broader than many other areas in Cornwall - manufacturing base that includes some world class companies
o farming sector that is mainly based on small private farms
o multi-stranded tourism sector
o local expertise in ‘new technologies’ such as food processing, pharmaceuticals and alternative energy
o strength of local creative tradition – both traditional arts and crafts and new media eg digital
o distinctly different – like nowhere else in Cornwall, and far enough away from everyone else to do our own thing! WEAKNESSES
o shortage of jobs – particularly high-skilled, high paid jobs
o and low wages
o shortage of opportunities for training and education
o shortage of homes available to rent or buy at prices local people can afford
o ‘brain drain’ of young people
o lack of many services – NHS dental provision, youth provision, support for elderly and disabled
o social exclusion
o rural isolation
o economic leakage - many of the people who live in Camelot Country work outside it, and shop outside it too.
o Lack of public transport
o environmental impact of reliance on private car and lorries for distribution
o arbitrary boundaries - no real sense of identity as an area
o rivalry and suspicion between communities – little tradition of working together
o lack of local Champions at corporate or political level

OPPORTUNITIES
• new education and business support initiatives in Cornwall inc CUC
• new distributor road (when built)
• availability (in theory) of funding for structural change and community development
• support of key local stakeholders/ shared agendas
• development of new technologies esp environmental technologies
• new interest in environmental management
• growing awareness of impact of ‘social economy
• growth of ‘green’ tourism
• growth of ‘cultural’ tourism
• new systems of communication (help overcome rurality)
• higher oil prices (encourage people to work/shop locally)
• high proportion of fit retired and economically active is good pool for voluntary sector initiatives
• large aging population will need increasing level of services eg home care
• ‘environmental’ credentials could become a Unique Selling Point – enhancing appeal of eg tourism, local foods.
• New building techniques could reduce the cost of constructing sustainable buildings
THREATS
• threatened reduction in local education/skills provision
• further delays to distributor road
• conflicting agendas of funders and other stakeholders
• working population loss to more affordable areas with better opportunities
• growth of second homes/ghost village syndrome
• loss of village amenities eg Post Offices
• changes to agricultural subsidies/ threat to small farms
• global warming – potential impact on tourism and agriculture
• end of O1 and other funding schemes
• higher oil prices – higher costs for business leading to loss of jobs
• dwindling manufacturing sector – loss of semi-skilled jobs overseas
• higher oil prices – greater pressure on low paid
• local cynicism/negativity deterring potential investors or limiting local ambitions

Section Two
THE COMMUNITY VISION

1. The Community Vision developed for the area covered by this Plan is forward thinking and positive, based on the strengths and opportunities outlined above. Our goal is:
“to create an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable community”
by braiding together four strategic ‘strands’
o Promoting a prosperous and sustainable local economy
o Strengthening the local social environment
o Reducing the impact of human activity on the local environment
o Promoting community involvement in the planning, decision making and delivery of initiatives
2. All the projects put forward in this Plan are designed to forward all these objectives. If they can be achieved we believe that in 20 years time, in place of the present economic leakage and slow erosion of the economic and social base, the area will be a robust community enjoying sustainable economic prosperity – self-reliant and self-sustaining, and exporting ideas around the world. It will be a high knowledge area, enjoying in particular a reputation as a centre of excellence for environmental management and rural community development, both through innovative local practice and through the new ideas, techniques and technology pioneered and developed locally.
3. Sustainable regeneration in Camelot Country will require many things moving forward together e.g. skills development, job creation, housing development, transport etc. Sustainable development also means that all these changes must be carried forward in a way that protects our environment and reduces the environmental damage we do – and which involves our community in their decision-making and delivery.

Section Three
THE PROJECTS
The previous section set out the overarching strategy, this section identifies 20 of the projects that have emerged so far to deliver it. Those in bold represent our priority projects – with stars indicating highest priority or already underdevelopment. This community plan is not cast in stone, so this list is liable to grow…… and change!

1. A new learning centre for further and higher education, training, adult education and business support – that will allow Camelot Country to share in the benefits that flow from the Combined Universities in Cornwall initiative***
2. a high tech business/enterprise centre, offering space for new businesses and business support and advice (built employing innovative & environmentally friendly building techniques such as combined heat/light provision from renewable crops, and including perhaps community management) **
3. development of locally identified affordable housing (this means local communities identifying possible sites and doing the legwork needed to pull together landowners, developers, housing associations etc into a viable partnership (a process now happening in Delabole)***
4. Encouraging sustainable construction techniques in new build including affordable housing** – including developing sustainable local capacity via training, local sourcing, local labour, local technology developments
5. working with North Cornwall District Council’s nationally recognised waste management team to promote reduction of local waste, increased recycling, and environmentally efficient waste disposal, including support for local initiatives such as Real Nappy campaign, local recycling initiatives etc.
6. development of a mixed use community centre at Delabole*** and in other villages as required
7. further development of our pilot Local Food initiative (‘Get Fresh, Go Local’) in co-ordination with other projects such as the Primary HealthCare Trust’s ‘Eatsome’ project** and the work being undertaken by Objective One’s Agricultural Task Force; securing a teaching and visitor centre for local foods and producers
8. development of other local networks/initiatives (along the lines of ‘Get Fresh, Go Local’) to foster the future development of other key local sectors such as: the arts and creative industries, digital media, environmental sciences (including renewable energy and waste management), chemicals and pharmaceuticals
9. tourism initiatives aimed at sustainable or low impact tourist developments such as farmstay holidays, cultural tourism, tracks and trails etc (plus support for sustainable initiatives in our tourism ‘honeypots’ of Tintagel and Boscastle)
10. a specialised support service for community businesses that will encourage ‘community entrepreneurs’ to take on the services that the private (and public) sector are sometimes slow to provide in our area – such as community run shops, nurseries, recycling facilities, craft co-ops, training facilities, community care etc.
11. development of a local enterprise as a community business and an ‘incubator’ centre for other such businesses***
12. environmental improvements to Camelford Town Centre such as re-organisation of pavement and parking areas, in order to create more pedestrian friendly space, as well as improvements to signage, street furniture etc**
13. environmental improvements to Enfield Park in Camelford**
14. CDCDT is already working with NCDC and East Cornwall Rural Transport Partnership’s Rural transport Officer on sustainable local transport initiatives:
- alternative fuels
- traffic management issues in villages as well as Camelford and Delabole eg Boscastle’s traffic survey
- community transport initiatives eg shared minibuses for local schools and sports clubs.
15. Community health initiatives extending schemes such as First Response Team in St Breward or the cardio rehab pilot in Camelford
16. Promoting shared use of community facilities such as learner pool + community rooms at Camelford Leisure Centre; promoting village hall initiatives and innovative uses of other community assets
17. further development of youth initiatives including support for a Youth Forum (linked directly to the Development Trust)
18. Development of redundant buildings as community resource centre and specialist centres of excellence for eg digital media
19. Extend the communications systems in Camelford and Delabole (Camelford Forum’s regular newsletter and the Delabole Slate) across the whole of Camelot Country; launch of Camelot Country website
20. Development of a co-ordinating organisation, under democratic and inclusive community management (such as a Development Trust) with asset base or other sustainable sources of funding, to represent and support community initiatives across the whole of Camelot Country***

Section Four:
THE PROCESS

1. Camelford and Delabole Community Development Trust was formed in 2001 by volunteers from two existing community organisations: Camelford Town Forum (CTF) (set up in 1988 following the water contamination incident) and Delabole Development Group (DDG) (formed in 1999 to carry forward local regeneration initiatives).
2. The bid to MCTi secured a grant of £22,500 in May 2002, matched by £2500 from North Cornwall District Council, to carry out the community consultation programme and production of the Community Development Plan for the area of Camelford, Delabole, and the surrounding 13 parishes. The boundaries were chosen partly because this is the catchment area for the local community school, Sir James Smith, and partly because these parishes were felt to be outside the catchment areas of the other prospective MCTi programmes in North Cornwall, those of Bodmin and Launceston. Since none of these parishes had prepared Parish it was felt that their community interests could best be reflected in this way.
3. This funding permitted the Trust to appoint a part-time Administrator to manage the programme. A few months previously, the newly opened Gaia Energy Centre at Delabole had secured funding for 2 years for a Community Development Officer, and this postholder was informally loaned to the Trust on a part-time basis to help develop local community projects. The Trust also recruited a researcher to prepare a HealthCheck on the area, to establish the baseline of where we were starting from.. As mentioned earlier, the Trust also recruited recruited Community Agents to set up a Local Food programme (resulting in Get fresh, Go Local) and to address the issues relating to younger people in the area. SBD Associates was appointed towards the end of the process, to pull together the available information and draft the Plan.
4. We have also received considerable day-to-day advice and support in developing this strategy and the various projects that have emerged along the way from the Community Development officer of North Cornwall District Council; from the officers of the two Objective One Integrated Area Plan offices that cover Camelot Country; and from the South West RDA officers representing the MCTi programme in Cornwall. We would like to thank all these staff and officers for their time and support.
5. The launch pad for the MCTi programme locally was a highly successful public consultation event called the Michaelmas Fair, organised at the Gaia Centre in October 2002. The event attracted over 800 participants and included a Planning for Real™ exercise that identified many key themes and areas of concern of local residents. The event was recorded on video as well as furnishing a quantity of paper evidence. A second Michaelmas Fair, held the following September, provided an update on progress and an opportunity for further consultation.
6. These public consultations highlighted areas of local concern. Foremost amongst these was the shortage of housing that local people could afford. The desire for more opportunities to buy locally produced food also ranked high on the list. The largest general area of concern related to transport – the lack of public transport, and the safety and environmental problems caused across the whole of the area by traffic, congestion and poor traffic management. (The top 10 list of concerns is reproduced at Annex b).
7. Although the MCTi programme advises community groups to step back from the usual pre-occupation with projects, in order to take a long hard look at the bigger picture, it does encourage the use of ‘Quick Wins’ – highly visible initiatives that allow the community to see that something is happening and change is possible. The Trust decided to tackle some of these concerns directly. Details on the many and various projects we undertook are contained in Section One: Introduction. These have established our track record in devising and managing innovative projects and working with various partners and funders.
8. In some respects however the community development process is still in its early stages, and much remains to be done. This is partly a problem of geography. Camelford remains the service centre for much of the area, with facilities such as the Community School, the Leisure Centre and the Library as well as the largest range of shops and services. It remains a natural focus for much activity but is perhaps ‘first amongst equals’ when compared with Delabole, Tintagel and Boscastle rather than pre-eminent. The three villages each have their own distinctive character; Delabole and Tintagel both have established and well developed regeneration agendas, and Boscastle has now had regeneration thrust upon it in the aftermath of the summer flood of 2004. Although these local agendas have many areas of commonality, they do not always overlap.
9. At the parish level, interest has proved patchy. Although many individual residents from the surrounding parishes have been involved in the debate, we have had problems engaging the parish councils and other interest groups in the parishes in the process. Many of the parishes are small, with scattered populations and few if any centralised organisations. It seems also to be the case that parishes on the edges of Camelot Country do tend to look to Bodmin, or Wadebridge, or Launceston for services and support, rather than towards Camelford.
10. We have also encountered difficulties in engaging with other ‘communities of interest’. This again partly reflects the lack of critical mass within the area. There are a handful of significant local employers who have so far shown little interest in the process, but much local economic activity happens amongst very small private enterprises, engaged in agriculture, retail or tourism. None of these sectors has local representation, apart from the local chambers of commerce which tend to operate on narrow remits, and the individual small entrepreneur typically does not have much spare time to devote to such a process.
11. NCDC’s community development officers have been generous with their time and support, but although the Council Chamber is at Camelford, NCDC’s departments lie mostly outside Camelot Country. Even Camelford’s Leisure Centre is managed mainly from Launceston. Other public services – with the exception of the Community School, and SureStart, both of which have actively engaged in the consultation process – are also headquartered outside the area.
12. The Trust acknowledges these weaknesses and the need to continue to address them. The lack of corporate Champions is a problem since private sector endorsement and support is essential when making a good case for investment, and the Trust must do more to engage the support of the private sector. The need for a centre for Training, Education and Business Support, which has emerged so strongly in this Plan, is an issue that should attract widespread support from this sector.
13. The need for the communities to work together to address our common problems is also clear. Fortunately the recently announced grant from the Lankelly Foundation to fund the new Community Development Officer will enable this work to go forward. The new officer’s priorities will be:
• to explore ways of broadening the current Trust’s remit, and attracting more members and more ideas.
• to develop an asset base/income for the Trust, to ensure that its work is secured and will continue.
• to promote and develop the Community Development Plan.
14. One first step in this new direction is the launch of a website for Camelot Country, which will have space for news and announcements from all over Camelot Country, as well as links to other relevant sites.

Section Five:
THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

All conservatism is based upon the idea that if you leave things alone, you leave them as they are. But you do not. If you leave a thing alone, you leave it to a torrent of change.
G.K. Chesterton

1. Camelot Country, despite its problems, is an area where many people would like to live, and few wish to leave. The challenge for this Plan is whether the ‘torrents of change’ already flowing through the area and in the wide world beyond can be harnessed and directed to drive the creation of a truly sustainable community.
2. As mentioned in the Introduction, this Plan calls on the community
“to create an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable community”
by braiding together four strategic ‘strands’
• Promoting a prosperous and sustainable local economy
• Strengthening the local social environment
• Reducing the impact of human activity on the local environment
• Promoting community involvement in the planning, decision making and delivery of initiatives
What does this actually mean?

Unravelling the Braid
3. Clearly the first strategic principle is that all these causes advance together, with economic regeneration and social regeneration and environmental protection and community development seen as being all bound up and inextricably linked. A project, to be included in the Plan, needs to display progress on all four fronts. (Unfortunately many funding streams do not easily recognise this way of working….)
4. The second principle is to work with what we have as the starting point – and to move from there towards greater sustainability. This in many cases will mean relying on grants to get the ball rolling, but in the longer term the objective is to be self-sufficient wherever possible.
5. The third principle is mutual support. This is not sentiment – it reflects hard economic fact. The quickest way to strengthen the local economy is to keep wealth within it, rather than allowing it to leak away. The more we can buy from one another and support one another’s efforts, the faster the improvement.

‘Promoting a sustainable local economy’
6. This means reversing the trend towards ‘dormitory community’ and instead aiming for a working community with greater opportunities for wealth creation and job satisfaction at a local level. More work closer to home means less commuting and reduced environmental impact – and of course reduced economic leakage.
7. The strategy calls for the existing (and in Cornish terms fairly diversified) economic base to be protected and used as the starting point for future sustainable growth. It means providing for the growth and expansion of existing industries, large and small, where this can be achieved without undue environmental damage, including provision of more industrial land on the identified sites due to be opened by the new distributor road around Camelford.
8. It also calls for the promotion of a micro and small business strategy that would encourage a whole new layer of sustainable enterprise, particularly social enterprises (ie companies trading for social purposes as well as profit). Growth areas for these community businesses in Camelot Country are seen to be: training and skills development; arts and crafts and the creative industries generally; food production, community composting and waste disposal; new technologies; social services .
9. As well as business development advice, support for these sectors would include collective marketing initiatives (such as the Local Food Campaign) and development of supply chain initiatives. The strategy suggests the establishment of a Camelot Country branding as the vehicle for such initiatives. Trading on the area’s Arthurian connections, it would be particularly appropriate for tourism/visitor oriented initiatives – as can be seen from the recent launch of the King Arthur Trail - but the connection with idealism also serves to echo the area’s environmental ambitions.
10. The strategy calls for development of accommodation for small/start up companies. Judging by the take up elsewhere in Cornwall, demand for these is high even in the most rural areas. In some communities these could take the form of rural workshops or work-live space that combines housing with office/workshop space.
11. In particular the strategy calls for the development of a local enterprise centre that, in addition to high quality workspace, would also offer business development advice. As well as general support, the centre could serve as the local outposts for sectoral support such as the specialist business advice for Land Based industries called for in Cornwall Agricultural Council’s strategy, or the Creative Industry Consortium’s support for creative industries in Cornwall. It would also improve the opportunities for innovation/development support for local companies in Camelot Country and further along the North Cornwall Coast, working in sectors such as Pharmaceuticals, Food Processing and Environmental Technology that are seen as central to the CUC initiative.
12. More than 100,000 visitors stay in Camelot Country each year, spending nearly £24m (source: NCDC website – ward profiles) and the sector is estimated to support some 25% of local employment (directly or indirectly). The impact of the sector is spread broadly all over the area, but concentrated towards the coast. NCDC’s Tourism Development Strategy calls for initiatives to enhance the visitor experience, extend the season, and essentially attract wealthier visitors. This Plan acknowledges that this approach may well be appropriate for the ‘honeypot’ areas such as Tintagel and Boscastle, but lays emphasis within Camelot Country on encouraging sustainable tourism that will support the sister objective of reducing human impact on the environment. Becoming a recognised centre of excellence for ‘green’ or activity tourism could enhance the area’s visitor appeal year round.
13. In particular the Plan calls for further development of multi use tracks and trails aimed at encouraging non-car users. These developments would equally benefit local residents and tie in with existing initiatives, such as the New Horizons programme run by Camelford Leisure Centre.
14. The failure of the Gaia Energy centre has re-inforced local scepticism about encouraging the development of freestanding ‘visitor attractions’. Recently however Jonathan Ball, the co-founder of the Eden project, has announced plans for a Great Atlantic Way – a trail of possibly a dozen features between Bude and Newquay, linked by a network of ‘green’ vehicles. The visitor centres would explore environmental themes and other aspects of North Cornwall, including local arts and culture. It is not yet clear how far this project might contribute to Camelot Country’s goal of truly sustainable development, but the Trust has long-standing links with Mr Ball and Trustees are already in discussion with him regarding his new project.
15. The community consultation has had little success in engaging directly with the land based industries in Camelot Country. Although the agricultural sector employs less than 1% directly, its impact on associated industries such as tourism, food processing etc is still considerable. There is significant potential overlap between this Plan and the priorities set out in Cornwall Agricultural Council’s strategy (2004) in the development of new land based sources of energy generation and energy conservation, and other environmental protection issues, and preliminary discussions have been held with Objective One’s Agricultural TaskForce.

‘Strengthening the local social environment’
16. This means improving social and cultural life through leisure, health, education and community initiatives.
17. It can be seen that the economic initiatives mentioned above are already overlapping into this area. Improved leisure facilities (such as tracks and trails) can improve health and increase contact between communities. Strengthening the social fabric by supporting services and facilities within communities – such as the multi purpose community centre and associated nursery planned for Delabole – also has a direct impact on the local economy, and can frequently lead to the creation of new social enterprises, and hence more opportunities for local employment.
18. This strategy calls for initiatives to support community developments in Camelot Country’s towns and villages, including innovative use of existing facilities (such as village halls) and the creation of additional facilities where there is a need. It also calls for development of the villages as local centres for a network of community health projects.
19. The shortage of Affordable Housing across Camelot Country was the single issue of concern raised most often in public consultation. With average wages still at less than £20,000 pa, ‘starter homes’ priced at £85,000 and private rented accommodation in increasingly short supply, there is a widening gap between what is needed and what is available. NCDC’s current Housing Needs Survey for example estimates the total need for affordable housing across the District at 973 units per year, with many of these being ‘starter’ homes or homes adapted for the elderly or disabled. The total estimated supply is 281 per year, leaving a shortfall of more than 600 units in this district alone.
20. The District Council’s priority areas are however Bodmin and Launceston – there are no plans for further affordable housing in Camelot Country, beyond what is already planned or under construction. This Community Development Plan accordingly calls for the Community to take the lead in bringing forward affordable housing.
21. The major strategic emphasis in this theme however remains the need for enhanced education provision. The Community Plan is supposed to look 20 years towards the future, and the stark facts are laid out in Section Six, the Obstacles. Basically at a time when access to increased education, training and skills is being presented as the cornerstone to future economic prosperity in Cornwall, the already limited provision within Camelot Country looks set to reduce. If improved access to education is the panacea for restructuring the rest of the Cornish economy, it is hard to see how Camelot Country is supposed to thrive without it.
22. This Plan accordingly calls for the creation of a multi-purpose training/education centre (possibly in association with the proposed enterprise centre) that would offer a local outlet for vocational and further education, training and skills, and would permit access to the Hub of the CUC project, together with its associated business support programmes. The centre could be built from scratch on new development released by the distributor road, or housed within an existing building, such as the redundant Gaia Centre (which has just gained a Change of Use that would permit such a function).

‘Reducing impact of human activity on the local environment’
23. These include a range of projects and objectives including those relating to Transport.
24. The vision of Camelot Country becoming a ‘green centre of excellence’ was first put forward in the regeneration feasibility report produced by Jonathan Ball in 2000. The idea attracted widespread support during community consultations. Strategies for achieving this will include:
• keeping environmental protection to the foreground of all projects (as can be seen from the preceding two sections)
• encouraging and promoting innovative technology and ‘technology transfer’ through systems of mutual support (eg working with Cornwall’s Agricultural Taskforce to develop sustainable affordable housing and building techniques, using local materials)
• developing innovative approaches to community based waste management and composting initiatives, building on the experience of the Real Nappy Campaign
• promoting community transport initiatives, using alternative fuel methods
• promoting improved public transport and other initiatives intended to reduce use of the private car.
25. Because they are often referred to as ‘environmental improvements’ we have included in this category the need to improve the central areas of Camelford and the villages, in order to enhance them as viable economic and community centres. Camelford’s street scene has been largely untouched by twentieth century redevelopment but its attractiveness as a shopping/visitor centre is blighted by heavy traffic and congestion. One of the advantages of the proposed new distributor road is that it will relieve these problems and allow the town to redevelop as a viable and attractive shopping and service centre for visitors and residents alike. This will build on the ongoing investment in Camelford’s Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme (HERS) and planned improvements to Enfield Park.

‘Promoting community involvement in the planning, decision making and delivery of initiatives’
26. As previously mentioned, sustainable regeneration in Camelot Country will require many things moving forward together e.g. skills development, job creation, housing development, environmental protection, transport etc. NCDC’s Local Strategic Partnership is intended to deliver exactly this ‘joined up thinking’ at a strategic level, and in turn feed into the wider Local Strategic Plan for Cornwall. As can be seen from previous sections, the Trust already has a strong relationship with many of the other key stakeholders and an established track record of working in partnership with them.
25. At the community level however some of these partnership projects can all to easily be seen as occasions where the community had a bright idea that someone ‘in authority’ pinched and is now doing – though not always in the way the community wanted. Fully sustainable development requires that these changes must be carried forward in a way that involves our community in their decision-making and delivery throughout.
26. The fragmented nature of the parishes and towns in Camelot Country makes it essential that they work in concert to ensure that their collective voices are heard. So one of the first steps in forwarding a more active role in delivering our own regeneration is to find ways of working together more effectively, in order to present a united front to potential supporters.
Section Six
THE OBSTACLES

1. Having successfully achieved the first goal of creating a Plan which reflects the vision of the wider community, negotiations begin with potential supporters. They are invited to assist with the design and implementation of projects which address that vision. The implied promise of the MCTi is that, if a community can produce a viable Community Plan, one that matches the overall strategic aims of these organisations, these funders will consider supporting the projects within it.
2. The dedicated team of local residents behind this Plan are committed to raising the profile and legitimate needs of Camelot Country, which we feel may be in danger of being overlooked.
3. The area has secured some significant funding from ERDF and EAGGF as well as UK central government and the local authorities over the past several years, but this has gone mostly into major capital projects such as the Davidstowe Creamery expansion. Unfortunately, some of these investments – such as the Gaia Centre – have also proved unsuccessful.
4. Further significant capital investment is underway in Tintagel (led by SWRDA) and in Boscastle in the aftermath of the devastating flood. Cornwall County Council has well developed plans for significant investment in the new Camelford Distributor Road, and for associated improvements in the town centre. NCDC is also investing in the town centre via the new HERS scheme in Camelford, as well as the plans for new incubator units once the Distributor Road goes ahead.
5. There is accordingly a real risk of ‘turning off’ potential supporters, by implying that nobody cares about Camelot Country. Clearly the commitment from funders is there. From the grassroots perspective however, things can look rather different:
• Set against the perceived level of investment drawn into more western area of Cornwall via Objective One and other funding schemes – areas that have more people, but essentially similar problems of social deprivation, exclusion, rurality and a weak economic infrastructure as Camelot Country - it is easy to feel the North Cornwall is somehow missing out.
• Secondly, major capital projects tend to produce varying levels of support within a community – including (frequently) opposition and division. The failure of such projects produces cynicism, rather than recognition. The projects that attract interest and excitement at community level frequently struggle to attract funding.
• Finally, Camelford (and hence the rest of Camelot Country) is not listed amongst the priority towns for development of the Objective One programme, nor in Cornwall County Council’s draft Structural Development Plan, nor North Cornwall District Council’s draft Local Development Framework. Because of the area’s perceived low strategic importance, there is a fear that local projects will not be a priority for funding.
6. Such issues influence local opinion. The major reason for our concern – what we perceive as the largest obstacle to the development of the community vision - is however very specific. It is the present level of threat to the local education system. At a time when most of Cornwall is looking forward to enhanced levels of Further and Higher Education, Training and Business Support, via the massive public investment in the Combined Universities in Cornwall initiative, Camelot Country is threatened with reduction in an already limited provision.
7. The meetings and consultation we have held around this topic have so far given us no confidence that some of the other agencies and ‘agendas’ operating locally in the field of higher and further education are ready to accommodate our Vision – even when in principle they subscribe to it.
7. The problem does not lie at the national strategic level. Our community Vision sits squarely within the UK government’s policy on the need to sustainable development:

8. Our ambitions, and in particular the emphasis on strengthening education and knowledge based services locally, are also very much in line with the strategic direction mapped out for the whole of Cornwall, as expressed by organisations such as Cornwall and the Isle of Scilly Economic Development and Tourism Forum.

9. The ‘high knowledge region’ described above is to be achieved through massive investment in skills, training, education and business support services. Objective One’s flagship project is the Combined Universities in Cornwall Initiative (CUC). Higher Education – and associated developments in Further and Adult Education, in training, skills and business development – is seen as a key economic driver for Cornwall’s future. The CUC’s end product is intended to be not more graduates but a revitalised economy - with more innovation, more high tech companies working in specialist industries, higher productivity and ‘added value’ in the traditional industries such as farming and tourism.
10. The CUC will develop from a central ‘Hub’ campus at Tremough, supported by satellite ‘Rim’ developments across Cornwall, based predominantly on the existing Further Education colleges. This is in recognition that even in these days of ‘distance learning’, students do need a local centre to support their studies, and businesses need local sources for business support.
11. There are no Hub or Rim facilities in Camelot Country (or indeed North Cornwall) and none are planned. The nearest outposts of CUC provision are Truro College, and Cornwall Colleges at St Austell and Saltash – each of which are more than an hour’s travel from Camelot Country,
12. At present, due to this lack of local FE provision, post-16 FE students from the Camelot Country are bussed to the colleges in St Austell and Saltash. The Learning and Skills Council’s (LSC) plans for the new post 14 vocational provision calls for the bussing to begin rather earlier, with 14 year olds being shipped to Launceston or beyond. No significant investment in post 14 vocational education is planned for Camelot Country.
13. Sir James Smith’s School in Camelford, which serves the whole of Camelot Country, is applying for Specialist Status and has ambitious plans. But faced with the LSC’s proposals to concentrate post 14 investment elsewhere, the future (particularly of its Sixth Form) must be open to doubt. Its rolls are already falling, as the limited range of A levels it can offer causes students to look elsewhere.
14. The heart of this Community Development Plan is a call for investment in the local provision of business support, training and further and higher education, to enable this area to share in the planned transformation of Cornwall into a high-knowledge region. Without it we are facing the prospect of Camelot Country becoming over the next 20 years, not a sustainable community but an area of increasing community fragmentation, occupied on the one hand by second home owners, the retired, and commuters with children in private education, and on the other by those trapped into staying by poverty and low skills.
15. We will continue to work towards a more positive future, and we hope that in the coming months our Vision will begin to influence the agendas of the other stakeholders.

Section Seven:
THE BACKGROUND

Who’s in Camelot Country?

21339 (mostly rural) hectares of North Cornwall with a population of around 10,500.

The communities of Camelford, Delabole, Tintagel and Boscastle, and the surrounding smaller villages

The newly revised Wards of Camelford and Camelot, and parts of Tremaine, Valency , Blisland & St Breward, and Altarnum wards.

The parishes of Otterham, St Juliot, Lesnewth, Forrabury & Minster, Trevalga, Tintagel, St Teath, Michaelstow, St Breward, Advent, St Clether, Camelford and Davidstow

1. This sparsely populated and predominantly rural area epitomises what is meant by ‘rural social exclusion’ and exemplifies many of the social, economic and environmental challenges facing Cornwall as a whole. Skilled and well paid jobs are in short supply and many residents commute considerable distances to work. Human and economic resources ‘leak’ away from the local economy as a result. Educational opportunities are limited, as is training and development advice for local businesses. There is a shortage of industrial development land. House prices are unaffordable to local wage earners, the number of second homes is growing, and the land and investment available for ‘affordably housing’ is very limited.
3. Local community services such as Post Offices are under continual threat, whilst health and other community services are limited (or in the case of NHS dentistry, entirely missing). When overall deprivation is assessed, wards within the area such as Tintagel are ranked amongst the highest in Cornwall.
4. The area also exemplifies many of Cornwall’s strengths – a distinctive, diverse and striking natural and built environment; a strong local tradition of community pride and self reliance; and a high level of energy and commitment within the community, embracing both those locally born and more recent arrivals. The local economy is strengthened by the presence of a small cluster of manufacturing companies, large by Cornish standards, with a focus on pharmaceuticals/food processing; the area also has a reputation for alternative energy production and innovation, being the site of the UK’s first wind farm.
5. This is the generally accepted outline of the local situation – providing hard data against which change can be measured is less straightforward. As was explained earlier, the boundaries of Camelot Country were determined by the catchment area of Sir James Smith School, which was defined as the parishes above. As the compiler of the Health Check discovered, this is not the kind of area recognised by central government and local authorities when it comes to collecting statistical information. The amount of data held at parish level is limited: NCDC’s own (very accessible and user friendly) statistical data is presented mostly at Ward level.
2. All the ward boundaries in Camelot Country were moreover changed in 2003, after the Health Check was compiled but before the release of the 2001 Census information. Many Camelot parishes moved into new wards, some with boundaries straddling beyond Camelot Country area. That means it is hard to compare the 1991 census information recorded in the Health Check with the 2001 information, in order to identify trends. It also means that much of the statistical information in the Health Check is out of date, and will need re-casting if it is to be used as baseline data for projects. (At time of writing, NCDC is about to commission such an exercise in support of Camelford HERS and other projects).
3. That said, the Health Check nevertheless paints a vivid impression of a local economy that is at best static. Although employment rates are at first sight high, average wages are low, some 20% below the national average (a reflection perhaps of the historic dominance of the traditionally low-wage sectors, retail, tourism and agriculture). Levels of economic inactivity (ie those of working age who are neither employed nor registered as unemployed) are high, as are the levels for part–time workers.
4. The proportion of people engaged in manufacturing, at 15.5% is higher than the Cornwall (11.8%) and North Cornwall (13.6%) average. This reflects the impact of a number of local large employers, notably Nelson Stokes; Key Organics; Maybridge Chemicals; and DairyCrest at Davidstowe, which has recently received considerable EAGGF support.
5. The major area for industrial activity is the Highfield Road Industrial Estate in Cameford, which is estimated to employ some 150 people (Atlantic Consultants 2001). This estate is full, and there are no further sites for further expansion land available at present. Some could be opened up if/when the new Distributor Road goes ahead. Camelford remains the focus for industrial development – there is some interest in workshops and work/live developments in the villages, but no confirmed interest, other than at Delabole. Local planning restrictions make in unlikely that developments outside the population centres would be permitted (although the Gaia Centre, which has ceased trading as a visitor attraction, has secured a change of use for training/educational purposes).
6. The proportion of our population that is retired is high, even by Cornish standards. Whilst this can bring with it the energies of the fit elderly, it also implies problems in the future for provision of support services. The lack of public transport provision and housing costs are two pressures that (anecdotal evidence suggests) taken together with the shortage of education and employment opportunities, increasingly force youngsters in particular away from the area, adding to the population imbalance and ‘knock-on’ effects such as falling school rolls
7. With average wages still at less than £20,000 pa, ‘starter homes’ priced at £85,000 and private rented accommodation in increasingly short supply, there is a widening gap between what housing is needed and what is available. The number of homes in second ownership doubled in Camelford in the ten years 1991-2001 to 10%, and now comprises 24% of the housing stock in some communities. (The number of households recorded as overcrowded in Camelford also doubled 1991-2001, and now stands at 7.8% - considerably higher than the North Cornwall average).
8. The Health Check in other words reveals a community that matches few tests for long-term sustainability. The same can of course be said of many other areas of Cornwall but they at least do have the promise of these structural trends being reversed through the deliberate investment in knowledge and skills. Camelot Country by contrast (see previous section) is threatened instead with losing what we have got.
9. In some respects however the community fabric is holding up well in comparison to other rural areas. Many communities continue to have a local primary school, shop and post office. A growing population across all areas (reflecting the Cornwall wide trend) means that demand for such local services remains high.
10. Camelford itself is holding up as a service/retail centre for the surrounding area, with few empty shops. The economic vitality of the town however appears fragile. At present – although this is hard to quantify, since much evidence is anecdotal - much local disposable income appears to leach out into surrounding areas, with residents travelling to other towns such as Launceston, Bodmin or Wadebridge to do their bulk shopping. Without a supermarket to draw the bulk shoppers, the town has to rely on the appeal of the small specialist shops to draw trade from both local residents and visitors (Atlantic Consultants in 2001 concluded that perhaps 30% of the average shop’s turnover was derived from tourism, even though the town is not regarded as a tourist destination).
11. At the moment the town centre is blighted by congestion and heavy lorries; the new distributor road once built should strengthen the town’s appeal as an attractive place to shop (the Road is due to go for Planning Consent in late 2004) and strengthen the town’s postion as the local service centre. (Delabole, Tintagel and Boscastle also all have areas of concern related to traffic management and congestion).

APPENDIX ONE:
Relevant reports and documents consulted
Camelford and Delabole Community Development Trust Business Plan June 2003
An economic, social and environmental analysis of Delabole on behalf of Delabole Development Group Community Projects Trust SW June 2000
Delabole – a village appraisal –DDG 2001
Camelford & Delabole Multi-use Trails – feasibility report – Peter Beale Nov 2002
Camelford and Delabole Electric Shuttle Bus –feasibility study – Graham Barrett Sept 2001
Camelford and Delabole Wind Hydrogen Bus project Whitby Bird & Partners (engineers) July 2002
Camelford Economic Regeneration and Enhancement Project Jonathan Ball Practice May 2000
Cornwall and Scilly Urban Survey (not yet completed) Cornwall County Council
Designing our Environment – published by creating excellence the south west regeneration centre, undated (2003?)
Camelford Town Council Action Plan 2003-2006 (2003)
Camelford Conservation Area Character Statement North Cornwall District Council (undated)
Camelford Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme Implementation Plan for North Cornwall District Council – Cornwall Enterprise Jan 2002
Camelford Building Condition Survey 2000 Brian Pilkington
A39 Camelford Distributor Road Report of Public Consultation Social research Associates December 2002
Camelford Economic Regeneration Options and the Contribution of a new Distributor Road Atlantic Consultants March 2001
A39 Camelford Distributor Road Options Report Cornwall County Council April 2002
Wider Strategic context –
Objective One Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly 2000-2006 Single Programming Document August 2000
Sir James Smith Community School’s Improvement Plan 2003
Making a Difference – North Cornwall’s Community Strategy NCDC
Communities Facilities Survey NCDC 2001
Strategy for Agriculture Horticulture food and Land Based Industries in Cornwall and the IoS 2003-2010 Cornwall Agricultural Council – Pieda Consulting Feb 2004
North Cornwall Local Development framework Issues and Options report NCDC Nov 2003
Cornwall Local Transport Plan 2001-2003 annual progress report July 2003
A strategy for achieving prosperity for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly 2000-2009 Cornwall and IoS Economic Development and Tourism Forum Cornwall Enterprise 2000
Project Alpha Devon and Cornwall Learning and Skills Council March 2004 GHK Consulting
North Cornwall Tourism Strategy 2001-2005 updated February 2004
North Cornwall Housing Needs Survey 2003 NCDC
Sure Start in North Cornwall(first revision)
North Cornwall District Council’s Corporate Plan 2004/05

APPENDIX TWO
The Top Ten Issues Raised in Public Consultation

1) Affordable Housing for Local People
2) Local Food
3) NHS Dentist
4) Cycling
5) Skateboarding/rollerblading
6) Locally run community transport/car sharing scheme
7) Planting to encourage wildlife/nature reserve
8) Speeding/dangerous driving/lower speed limits
9) No parking/more car parking/off street parking
10) Accident black spots/better pavements/safer crossings

APPENDIX THREE: AFFORDABLE HOUSING BRIEFING NOTE
(SBD Associates May 2004)
This briefing note has been prepared as a starting point for community groups interested in affordable housing. The information in it is to the best of our knowledge correct at time of writing, but is liable to change. Definitions are our own unless otherwise stated.
Affordable housing
"Affordable housing is housing of an adequate standard which is cheaper than that which is generally available in the local housing market. This can comprise a combination of subsidised rented housing, subsidised low cost home ownership including shared ownership, and in some market situations cheap housing for sale. Local planning policies can provide for the provision of appropriate quantities of affordable housing in this sense". (Caradon DC housing definition)
So Affordable housing = housing that is available to rent or to buy at a price that can be afforded by an average wage earner/householder (can also include ‘shared ownership’ schemes).
The rough rule of thumb when calculating the purchase price is 3x household income; for rental, an affordable rent (including council tax and utilities) is approximately 1/3 of weekly/monthly income. Thus affordable housing for a single person in Cornwall to buy at present is <£54,000 based on 2002 average earnings of £348/week or £18k/year (Source: CCC website). (There will be local variations, depending on local wage rates). The average house price in Cornwall in the 3rd quarter of 2003 was £167,032 (Source: CCC website).
This means that affordable housing in Cornwall can normally only be provided if its construction is somehow subsidised. Ways of lowering costs include: cheaper than market value land; reduced construction costs; reducing/removing developer profit.
A house that is cheap to build/buy but expensive to maintain is still not truly affordable!
Social housing:
"Social housing is housing of an adequate standard which is provided to rent (or on a shared ownership basis) at below market cost for households in need by Local Authorities or Registered Social Landlords operating on a basis of accepted and regulated standards of good practice in relation to physical conditions, management, allocation, equal opportunities and accountability to tenants and other stakeholders". (Caradon DC definition)
Since (by definition) a great many individuals and households in Cornwall have less than average incomes, this leaves the question open of how they are to afford to be housed. This category used to be described as social housing – what historically was known as ‘council housing’ but these days is more often provided by Housing Associations – housing available for rent from public or quasi-public sources (with the rental sometimes subsidised by Housing Benefit, which may be paid to both private and public tenants). With Housing Associations often the partners in Affordable Housing schemes, and ‘social housing’ falling into disfavour as a term, there is blurring/confusion between the two categories and they frequently get lumped together as ‘affordable housing’.
Sustainable Housing:
A sustainable community is one that has the necessary human and economic infrastructure to support its population in a civilised manner ie to meet their needs for jobs, shops, schools, transport, health, leisure and housing whilst minimising human impact on the environment. Sustainable housing contributes to a sustainable community, by supplying the right sort of housing for local demand, in the right place.
Eco-housing:
Housing that consciously include energy efficiency/environmental protection in its design or manufacture. This term is applied to a wide range of housing, from ‘a conventional house with one solar panel’ to ‘a house built of cob powered by a wind turbine with a turf roof’.
There can be a tension between affordable housing (with its emphasis on low entry cost) and eco-housing. The technology which contributes to the reduced environmental impact and reduced costs over the long term often has higher initial outlay than conventional building methods.

Housing Co-operatives/Community Housing:
A number of small communities are exploring ways of combining affordability with social and environmental sustainability, by building houses that are collectively owned, or collectively built, or which provide communal living space/community space in addition to individual units.
The Situation in Cornwall
Affordable housing is an issue across all those parts of the UK that have seen spiralling house prices without corresponding increases in wages and salaries. It is a particularly pressing problem in areas such as Cornwall, where house prices have in some areas doubled in the space of a few years, whilst local wage rates remain amongst the lowest in the UK. The growth of second homes, which in some communities now represent a quarter of the housing stock, has exacerbated the situation, with some homes left empty, and those ‘bought to let’ frequently available to local people at affordable rents only during the winter months (and let to visitors at higher rents during the summer). Recent legislation requiring local authorities to house families in need in non ‘bed and breakfast’ accommodation has put additional pressure on the private rental sector.
With the Right to Buy applying to public housing stock owned by local authorities, there is a net loss each year of rented accommodation in the public sector ie more ‘social’ houses are bought each year under the right to buy than there are ‘affordable’ houses for rent being built. NCDC’s current Housing Needs Survey for example estimates the total affordable housing at 973 units per year, with many of these being ‘starter’ homes or homes adapted for the elderly or disabled. The total estimated supply is 281 per year, leaving a shortfall of more than 600 units in this district alone.
The amount of land set aside for housing development is moreover very limited, and there can be resistance from both planners and existing residents against wholesale increase.
Many communities in Cornwall, wanting homes for their young people but recognising the importance of protecting the local environment and Cornish distinctiveness, are now looking for ways of supplying housing appropriate to their needs, that will ensure the long term sustainability of their local community, but won’t ‘cost the earth’.

THE PRESENT SITUATION & EMERGING OPTIONS
Funding of affordable housing
Affordable housing is funded in three ways:
• By requiring developers to provide an element of affordable housing in any new development, as part of the Supplementary Planning Guidance. Used to be 10%, now notionally up to 40% of any new development (35% proposed but not yet adopted in North Cornwall), in practice this is a starting point for negotiation between developer and planners;
• Direct central government funding via the Housing Corporation (to Housing Associations)
• Via Council Tax: as of April 1, second homes attract only a 10% discount for Council Tax (as opposed the 50% previously) and in Cornwall the gain has mostly been ‘ring-fenced’ for affordable housing by district councils. (In North Cornwall, this will be worth an estimated £1m p.a.)
Supply of Sites
There is a shortage of land designated for housing in Cornwall. Consequently land so designated is at a premium, worth up to £200,000 per acre. Even with high density housing, the cost of each plot (at £15k+ apiece) makes affordability that much harder.
Land on the edge of communities suitable for affordable housing can qualify as an ‘exception site’. Even if it hasn’t been designated for housing, it could be considered for planning permission. ‘Exception site’ land is normally valued from between agricultural value to 50% the going market rate of land with full permission for housing. Landowners however, alerted to the possibility that the land might be deemed suitable for market value housing at some future point, may look for more. (This is known as the ‘hope value’ of the land).
Exception sites can ONLY be used for 100% affordable housing ie a landowner cannot gain permission for a site and then use part of it for full-market housing.
Two factors may be coming into play to influence this situation. Firstly, the legislation that permits ‘exceptional developments’ is currently under review, and it may be that this facility will shortly be withdrawn. Secondly, as of April 2004, local authorities have acquired Compulsory Purchase powers for land for affordable housing, and some Cornish district councils are reconsidering their position as a result. These factors may cause hopeful landowners to rethink their position.
(Landowners such as the Duchy of Cornwall are currently inviting Parish Councils in Cornwall to bring forward proposals for ‘exceptional’ affordable housing developments on the edge of villages, using Duchy land – before the goalposts are moved. Unfortunately the closest such land to Camelford/Delabole is St Kew. Contact Roger Halliday land Agent 01579 343149).
Other methods used to encourage landowners to part with sites include eg purchasing the leasehold (leaving landowner as freeholder); encouraging the landowner to become the developer or co-developer of the site - perhaps combined with a split use ie selling some units, retaining others for rental – which can be tax efficient for the land owner/developer.
Developers
Private developers and Housing Associations (in Cornwall the most prevalent appear to be DCHA, Westcountry, Guinness Trust, Penwith, Cornwall Rural and Ocean) have traditionally been the developers for affordable housing, but this may be about to change. District Councils are now permitted to use some receipts (such as the council tax discounts on second homes) for housing. The proposal included in the 2004 Budget (now out for consultation for implementation in the next year) to introduce Real Estate Investment Trusts (tax efficient methods of encouraging investment in residential property) may encourage further private investors including the institutions such as pension funds. Some Cornish local authorities and other organisations such as the Duchy of Cornwall and the National Trust are now considering becoming their own developers.
Low Cost/Eco Building Techniques
There is growing interest in houses that are ‘manufactured’ rather than ‘built’ ie partially assembled in a factory and then shipped to site for final assembly. Typically these are timber framed, insulated, and can be externally finished in a variety of ways. This technique reduces the need for building skills (in short supply), reduces cost, and arguably reduces environmental impact/construction noise/associated local disruption, as the shell of a house can be constructed very quickly (reducing contractors on site time).
In Cornwall, two exponents of this approach, both in Bodmin area, include:
Michael Skinley: represents an established German company (Haas) which manufactures both industrial/community and residential buildings (including purpose built kindergardens). Is looking to establish Cornish manufacturing base and use Cornish produce, making local centre manufacturing hundreds of housing units a year. Currently in discussion with Mevagissey on the Move re their new multi purpose hall, and plans two show houses (funded by Ocean Housing Association) in Caradon in near future. These will include environmentally friendly features such as ground heat pumps, passive solar gain etc.
Is in discussion with Objective 1 Ag Task Force re switch to new insulation systems using locally grown hemp. Is also offering to build ‘shells’ and provide training/certification for unskilled to do the finishing inside. Eager to talk to more communities! 07776 067632.
Arco2: Lanlivery County Primary School recently constructed a free standing classroom using post and beam technique (using Cornish timber) plus range of environmental features including: green roof, passive solar gain, super insulation (using recycled newspaper), water recycling – 85 sq metres for a build cost of <£100k. The building recently won an RICS award, and the governors/architects that designed and managed up the project have started a company on the strength of it, and are looking to do more on similar lines. More suitable for community etc space than residential. Contact Martin 01208 832990.
Other Useful Contacts
Cornwall Sustainable Buildings Trust (CSBT) Paul Bright paul@csbt.org.uk suggests two useful ‘benchmark’ residential projects in Cornwall: in Marazion (Penwith District) there is a good example of social housing incorporating ground sourced heating systems; in Bude there is an innovative partnership developing between NCDC, Midas Homes, Westcountry Housing Ass and Guinness Trust and CSBT.
Mike Wigginton, Director of University of Plymouth School of Architecture and an expert in eco-architecture (and judge of CSBT’s recent ANSAS awards) has recently declared an interest in developing this sector in Cornwall (Plymouth is CUC partner of course) and is lobbying SWRDA etc. Interested in meeting community groups with outline ideas. 01752 233601.
Cornwall Rural Community Councils Rural Housing Enabler Rebecca Jacob can advise parishes and communities on how to develop their own local strategy.
Village homes for village people written by the Rural Housing Trust www.ruralhousing.org.uk is useful.
Somerset Trust for Sustainable Development - admin@sustainablehousing.org.uk
CREATE at Bristol have published the booklet "Bristol Sustainable Development Guide for Construction" examining the various issues involved e.g Local Economy and Employment etc., providing guidance through the steps required to get sustainable buildings. Tel. 0117 922 4489
Association for Environment Concious Building have a web-directory of members in Cornwall, covering all aspects of the construction world, plus advice booklets etc. This organisation is at the forefront of sustainable building and publish the magazine "Building for a Future". www.aecb.net
The Glass-House. This is the community-building part of the charity The Architecture Foundation - set up to help the public understand and get involved in high quality architecture. They offer training, contacts and some funding to help community associations find the best way for them to organise the whole process. They have been instrumental in helping with the Mevagissey on the Move project. From their "Project Showcase" link, click on the red dot in Cornwall [you may have to press the minus sign on the Overview Map t to get it] to read about the Mevagissey project in their own words to get the best idea of how this charity works. www.theglasshouse.org.uk

www.hockerton.demon.co.uk/sustainablecommunity. This is a web-site set up by a community housing association that developed their own affordable housing pilot scheme. They offer a guide through all the stages.
www.sustainablehomes.co.uk. Database of eco house projects in UK and Europe. Not neccessarily affordable.
www.segalselfbuild.co.uk Web-site of The Walter Segal Self Build Trust. The charity offers help and advice through-out community self-build projects. May be a useful route to contact other communities who have completed affordable housing schemes - e.g. "Camelot Self Build" completed in 1997 in South Somerset.

 

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