Hawkins Motors Site – Hayle Terrace
6 October 2007At the meeting of Hayle Town Council on 20 September 2007, Matt Barton and Allan Hampshire of PDC were invited to respond to the Council’s resolutions at a prior meeting which were:
- To support the construction of 5 market value houses maximum on the existing footprint subject to: the open space being vested to Hayle Town Council prior to building, the open space being landscaped, the wave wall being continued along the entire length of the site and all of the houses providing off street parking.
- It is the will of the Town Council to further the first resolution. (Meaning: to support Hawkins if they pursued this approach).
Allan Hampshire is head of the Affordable Housing Task Force and has the responsibility to ensure sufficient affordable housing in the district. Allan referred to the large number of people on the housing register waiting for affordable housing and the difficulty of meeting the demand. He asked that PDC be given more time to come up with a solution for the Hawkins site that would still provide 26 affordable units plus some open space.
In the public participation session prior to the meeting commencing, Mr. Owen Philp made a statement. (Mr Philp lost both his town and district seats at the last election and he held the posts of either Chairman or Vice Chairman of Planning at PDC when the original agreement with Hawkins was signed and for most of the period when negotiations between PDC and Hawkins failed.)Â Mr. Philp, whose position was surprisingly similar to that of the PDC officers, expressed his view that the site should be used for affordable housing and that the town council was turning its back on those in the town who desperately needed affordable housing.
During the meeting it was explained why the Council had arrived at its resolutions. In summary these were because:
- Talks between Hawkins and Penwith District Council had stalled after two years of trying;
- When asked in a Parish Poll “Should Hawkins Motors site on Hayle Terrace be brought into public ownership for use as an amenity area in perpetuity?†90% voted in favour;
- The site is now in a Conservation Area and a World Heritage Site;
- Environment Agency regulations now require buildings to be raised 1.6m for flood protection (adding almost a floor in height);
- The Environment Agency had objected to previous planning applications attempting to put large numbers of dwellings on the site;
- Over 50 affordable units have been constructed in Hayle in the last three years and 175 are anticipated in the harbour development;
- The Council wishes to protect and improve access to Copperhouse Pool as much as possible.
and,
- The Council were tired of seeing the broken-down site in the centre of Hayle.
Hayle councillors are acutely aware of the need for affordable housing in Hayle. Indeed, at least one councillor is living in affordable housing and a number are personally aware of the difficulty of their children getting on the housing ladder.
Unfortunately, building 26 affordable units on this limited space is unlikely to result in a building which the people of Hayle would be happy with. Hayle Council has given PDC until January 1st to come up with a design – after which, if the design is not suitable, we will pursue our original resolution.
It is important that the Council represents you. Please send me your views on this important issue so that I can pass them on.
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