Cornwall planning: Fears homeless pods for young people will impact 100 nearby homes in Truro

How the young people's homes could look
-Credit:Kendall Kingscott


Residents living on a Duchy of Cornwall housing estate have aired their concerns about the possibility of homeless pods for vulnerable young people being installed less than 50 metres from their homes.

Cornwall Council wants to site ten modular units near the Tregurra Park estate and Waitrose store in Truro for people aged 18 to 25 who would otherwise be homeless or threatened with homelessness. Many of them would be transferring from children's service having left the care system.

Concerns were raised that the proposed site - on council-owned land adjacent to the entrance of Tregurra Park and Ride on the A39 - may not be the right location for the pods at a meeting of Truro City Council's planning committee last night (Thursday, January 30).

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Around 20 residents living on the Tregurra Park estate attended the meeting with many more having aired their concerns on the council's online planning portal. The 101 homes on the estate were built as part of a Duchy of Cornwall partnership project with Cornwall Council, Waitrose, the Great Cornish Food Store and developer Zero C on Duchy-owned land.

Although there are similar modular unit schemes across Cornwall, if approved this would be first such development for young people in Cornwall, as there is a recognised gap for such provision for the 18 to 25 age group.

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Cornwall Council strategic housing officer Nicky Mannell told the meeting: "The proposed scheme aligns with the ethos of the existing Duchy development providing local need housing. Care has been taken to reduce any potential impact on surrounding properties. The site boundaries will be enhanced by new and more extensive planting and hedgerows to replace the current chain link fence.

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"We currently have 118 young people, aged 18 to 25, in our homeless and temporary accommodation, which demonstrates significant need for this type of accommodation."

Although there is no parking planned for the site, she told councillors that the neighbouring park and ride had been deemed satisfactory for residents' transport needs. Highways did not oppose the scheme, noting the site is near public transport options along the A39 into Truro.

Mayor of Truro Carol Swain was concerned about where people living on or visiting the site would park in the evenings and on Sundays when the park and ride is closed.

Former mayor Steve Webb asked what the management criteria there would be and if there would be a curfew for residents. "We intend it to be low needs - it's for those people who need some extra support to manage their home and to stop them becoming homeless in the future. The support will be based on site in an office facility for training, education and supporting those individuals into their own accommodation in the future," replied Ms Mannell.

Residents would have to commit to working with a support provider and would be treated like any other council tenant if there were antisocial behaviour concerns or any other issues. Ms Mannell said the properties would be managed by Cornwall Housing and a support provider will be commissioned to be on site seven days a week, but not for 24 hours a day as the level of need would not require that.

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The meeting heard that two other sites had been looked at in Truro but had been discounted as unviable.

Martin Mumford, Devon & Cornwall Police liaison officer, had previously commented online that the police would require further details about out of hours support at the site. "Unfortunately, with some young people it is those they associate with that can present the real issues. Some of these associates may seek to take advantage of potentially vulnerable young people so how this will be managed especially out of hours must also be fully considered within any management plans."

Travis Mason spoke at the planning meeting on behalf of concerned residents. "This is completely the wrong place for 18 to 25 year olds as there's a complete lack of facilities for young people other than Waitrose and a fish and chip shop," she said. "All the facilities they're likely to want are a 25-minute walk away in Truro and there is very little public transport after 7pm. The site is surrounded on three sides by very busy roads.

"Police liaison share our concerns about staff support for the occupants. The adjacent housing estate, which includes social housing, has elderly residents and families who are very concerned about the potential for litter, drug paraphernalia and noise. As it is a private estate it will be left to us to manage the fallout and pay for any clean up."

She added: "Cornwall Council is clearly taking a short cut to secure time-limited government funds by using a small plot of land it already owns regardless of its unsuitability. There is also been a total disregard of the dangers of housing young vulnerable adults in this space and the significant impact on the 100 houses close by."

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Ms Mason was asked if residents had been consulted about it. "No, we only found out about it through CornwallLive and the other press," she told councillors.

Like many of those present, Loic Rich, the Cornwall councillor for the area, highlighted the need for such accommodation in Truro, but was also concerned about this particular project.

He said: "There's a housing crisis in Cornwall and I know what it's like to live in Truro, be in a low-paid job and live in a really dodgy place. There are young people out there living that kind of life and need help and support.

"So I would probably be one of the last people to be against something like this. The problem I've had is I didn't know about this until recently. The whole scheme had been worked up without my knowledge. I had an email from a private consultant basically telling me about it and asking if I could get him planning permission. I was quite shocked.

"I was really shocked on behalf of the community I represent because they deserve to have their councillor fully informed of things that Cornwall Council are doing especially quite controversial schemes."

Cllr Rich added: "This should not be controversial - there are some really good things about this. The rent will be social rent so if these young people get a job they'll be able to afford to stay. Cornwall Council can run these schemes really well and change people's lives."

However, he also mentioned another housing scheme which he said wasn't run well and the antisocial behaviour associated with it was among some of the worst he'd ever heard of, which affected elderly people in a quiet area. He pointed out other incidents where people living in homeless pods had received "awful experiences". These incidents have all been reported previously by CornwallLive.

He said he couldn't support something he hadn't been notified about. "I don't think, just because the money has to be spent by a certain date, they need to rush this through. I think they should go right back to the beginning and find a suitable site because I don't think it's the right location.

"Based on my experience of dealing with homeless schemes in Truro and observations around Cornwall, I can't say I've got enough confidence that the council would run this properly."

Cllr Rob Nolan, who has two homeless pod schemes in his Truro division, said they were very well managed, "but that's not to say they are not without their problems". He said the circular design of the units means residents lack privacy, are living on top of each other and "that can lead to tensions and problems".

He agreed that a lack of consultation concerning the Tregurra proposal was a big issue. "You have to take the community with you and I think we've singularly failed to do that here because people are concerned and worried."

Cllr Webb asked where the right place would be for such a scheme. "Would I like this right at the back of my house? I think my heart would say yes, it's a great scheme and a great idea, but my head would fear parts of this."

He suggested the plan should be opposed by the city council due to a lack of public consultation. Cllr Swain was also against it but due to over-development and a lack of suitable parking. The planning committee voted unanimously to oppose the application.

At the end of the meeting, Cllr Sam Rabey said: "I think the language being used about this site needs to be limited. We're just assuming these young people are going to drink and take drugs. We don't know which young people are going to go in there. We need to be very careful what people say."

The matter will now go before Cornwall Council for a decision.