Camborne is having a quiet revolution after £23.7m investment

Down in the west of Cornwall, there has long been a friendly rivalry - even going back hundreds of years. Two towns at the centre of the Industrial Revolution mining boom proudly became known around the world. They even have their respective famous sons - Murdoch versus Trevithick.

Despite being joined by a common past, they remain fiercely independent, each having its own spirit and community. And the death of mining brought hard times to both equally.

Both towns became home to some of the most deprived areas in western Europe and, although not far from some of Cornwall's tourist Meccas, have looked and felt quite down-at-heel.

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But now that's all changing. Both are starting to see revolutions of a very different kind, as recipients of millions in government cash, which is helping to kick-start homegrown, grass-roots pride.

Redruth would appear to be taking the lead as epitomised by its recently opened Buttermarket foodie quarter. Down the road, locals and even the area's new MP will tell you Camborne remains riddled with serious problems - drugs, antisocial behaviour, violent crime. Yet, many think its time is coming too. As part of a series of features on the two rivals, we first take a look at how Camborne is coming out of the doldrums and shaking off its bad rep.

According to Crimerate.co.uk, Camborne is the second most dangerous small town in Cornwall - just behind Cornwall's surfing capital Newquay - and is the third most dangerous overall out of Cornwall's 212 towns, villages, and city. The overall crime rate in Camborne in 2023 was 64 crimes per 1,000 people.

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This compares poorly to Cornwall's overall crime rate, coming in 79 per cent higher than the Cornwall rate of 36 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Camborne is the 318th safest small town, and the 2,851st most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.

In September 2024, Camborne had the worst crime rate in Cornwall for theft from a person, with five crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.27 per 1,000 daytime population. The most common crimes in Camborne are violence and sexual offences, with 594 offences during 2023, giving a crime rate of 33.

This is 33 per cent lower than 2022's figure of 885 offences and a difference of 15.98 from 2022's crime rate of 49. Camborne's least common crime is bicycle theft, with six offences recorded in 2023, an increase of 50 per cent from 2022's figure of four crimes.

The town's crime problem is seemingly so bad that a month after being elected as the new MP for the area, Perran Moon said it is "blindingly obvious" that Camborne has an urgent problem with crime, antisocial behaviour and addiction.

Traders and residents have been calling for the homeless pods to be removed from the town centre car park as they say it has led to a rise in street drinking, drug dealing and antisocial behaviour. Town mayor James Ball, who is disabled, even said it has got so bad that on one occasion a street drinker jumped on the back of his wheelchair as he went past and broke it.

The homeless pods certainly are a hot topic, Cllr Ball told us. "The whole of Cornwall, not just Camborne, is in desperate need of housing. There is a massive waiting list. The people in the pods are at the lowest point in their life. Is it the right place to have people with addictions so close to the town centre?"

He said that the pods are being run with a tight grip and a one-strike-you're-out policy and more often than not it is not the actual residents who are responsible for the incidents of anti-social behaviour it is the visitors and hangers-on.

Cllr Ball said: "There has been a huge amount of work done with Camborne BID, the police, We Are With You and Safer Cornwall and the street marshals to deal with street drinkers. It is working. It is improving. The town centre is safer, and there have been fewer incidents of anti-social behaviour on Commercial Square, violence and shoplifting, which is great. It does feel like it is a safer town which is what we want for the residents of Camborne."

Anna Pascoe, manager of BID Camborne, believes the stats may show more crime, but it is down to a growing number of shopkeepers and residents reporting it, for the more crime is reported to the police, the more of an issue it becomes and the more resources Devon and Cornwall Police allocate to deal with it.

She said the BID team has been working to encourage the use of the crime reporting, Pub Watch-style reporting app DISC, which has been rolled out in other towns like Newquay. So far, 50 traders have joined the scheme, but she hopes it can be taken up by at least 100 more so it becomes more widespread on the high street.

"The feedback we've had so far is that businesses are keen to understand how they can use it so we'll be doing workshops with them to encourage them to sign up for it and report crime. Even if it's not all the time, it is important they report incidents and issues. If it's just once a week or once a month it's fine. It is about managing the town centre, for all we want is a healthy and vibrant town centre."

For many traders, the other issue with the homeless pods is that they take up a lot of parking spaces and are located where coaches used to park. Now fewer coaches can visit the town.

"They were supposed to be temporary," Anna added. "They were put in just before Covid. They were supposed to be moved out before Trevithick day 2022. It's been four years."

All agree that there is a long way to go to bring Camborne back to its former glory and make it the attractive town it once was. But change is certainly happening.

"We have got a long way to go," admits Cllr Ball. "But we are starting to turn a corner. Yes Redruth have got the Buttermarket and it's great. But when the Basset Centre opens in two years' time, Camborne will have its own 'Buttermarket', except much better."

The Basset and White House scheme is the town's flagship regeneration project. When open in late 2026, the two listed buildings on Basset Road will be joined together with a glass atrium and will house a modern, spacious library, a dedicated youth space, a large multi-use performance and events space, refreshments outlet and social space as well as other community and commercial services. It will even house Trevithick's Puffing Devil in a state-of-the-art interactive heritage and history corner.

Designed by St Ives-based award-winning architects Poynton Bradbury, the £15m project aims to be the cornerstone of Camborne's Town Deal regeneration and long-coming 21st-century revolution. The previous government gave Camborne £23.7 million from the fund, the largest amount given to any of the four projects of Camborne, St Ives, Penzance, and Truro.

While the final touches are being made to the plans for the Basset Centre, work is already underway on the other big-ticket items on the Town Deal list. Kerrier Way, now renamed Holman Gardens following public consultation with local residents, is taking shape. A public garden lined with Cornish hedges and terraced sitting areas, the £1.3m scheme next to the Tesco supermarket, will soon welcome local residents, workers enjoying their lunch break and visitors to the town while providing a green space planted and sown with trees, bushes and wildflowers.

While phase one is well and truly underway and could open this side of Christmas, Holman Gardens are expected to be completed by spring next year.

This month (November 2024) a planning application was submitted with Cornwall Council to see Park Gerry become a reality. Formerly Park Road playing fields, this other Town Deal project has received £1.8m to host a sports, play and recreation space complete with an accessible state-of-the-art skate park, sports pitches, pavilion and performance area nestling in a re-wilded and newly landscaped space for people of all ages and interests to enjoy.

Val Dalley, chair of the Camborne Town Deal Board, said: “Planning Park Gerry’s transformation has truly been a community effort for the enjoyment of residents for many years to come. I am particularly happy with plans for enhanced access to the park, with better cycling and pedestrian access, more parking, accessible pathways and facilities.”

As Anna explains, these three projects—a total of 10 projects will be funded by Town Deals cash—are located at the three gateways into the town, with the aim of giving Camborne the wow factor as people come into town.

The Basset Centre, Park Gerry and Holman Gardens may not mean much visually to people driving or walking past just yet, but changes have been happening on a smaller scale right in the town centre to make the area more welcoming, better for shoppers and encourage start-up entrepreneurs and artists to make Camborne their home.

Take the Foundry that's being developed in the former Boots building on Trelowarren Street. It had been empty for years and will now become a co-working space complete with meeting rooms, private studios, a kitchen and lounge, an event space and a courtyard.

"It was empty and had been neglected for a few years," Anna said. "It'd been on the market for years, and no one wanted it, so without the Town Deal, it would still be empty and crumbling and a blight on the high street."

Yet the most accomplished of all projects so far is the Contemporary Crafts Hub in the Donald Thomas Centre on Chapel Street. Angela Hatherell, the director of Create CIC, which is behind the project, said the Hub was one of the first projects to receive any Town Deal funding.

She said: "We used the money to demolish part of the building and bring it up to standards. It was a complete wreck. And we built a new pottery."

The grade II* listed building has since been transformed into a state-of-the-art, sustainable Contemporary Crafts Hub, where artists and hobbyists can come along and learn or create new art. The Hub has the largest collection of pottery and glass fusing kilns in Cornwall, a library dedicated to the art form thanks the generous donations of books and magazines from Leach Pottery in St Ives, as well as a social space and studio.

Thanks to a mosaic creation by artist Alec Rice, the Contemporary Craft Hub probably boasts the most beautiful toilets in Cornwall. Alec's creation, which includes ceramic tiles created by members of the community to show off what Camborne represents to them, features the Red River, from the three pools on Carn Brea where it is born to the lighthouse at Godrevy where it meets the sea. Some of the tiles even show the periodic table elements found in the river and the unique species of dragonflies which have evolved to survive in the historically heavily polluted river.

At the time of the project, Alec, who believes that art and function go together hand in hand, said: "Just because you've got a toilet, why shouldn't it be an art installation?"

Using art is also helping to beautify the high street. One project involves the commissioning of artists and members of the community to turn the ugly olive green BT telecoms and utility boxes into mini murals.

As part of the project A-Void (also funded through the Town Deal), shops have also been able to apply for grants to spruce up their frontage and improve their energy efficiency, sustainability while also brushing up on their skills.

"We're now in phase two of the project," Anna explained. "We have more than 150 businesses involved over the two phases. It's about getting everyone in a room together so we face any issues we have together. It's not just about doing up shops. It's about education and training and encouraging start-ups and pop-ups to come into Camborne. The high street is often more affordable than what people think."

"People used to travel to Camborne from miles away because of what the town used to provide," Cllr Ball added. "With all these projects and especially the Basset Centre, we are putting Camborne back on the map. We want people to come from far and wide for it. Positivity breeds positivity. That's what we want for Camborne. We will get there."

Steve Cantrill, the communications and engagement manager for Camborne Town Council, who showed us around the various projects happening in the town, was even more upbeat. He said: "With all the tin and lithium around, if they reopen South Crofty, we could become a boom town once again."

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