Cornwall planning: Revised homes plan is still 'accident waiting to happen' say worried locals

A photo showing the narrow access on Barberry Way for vehicles accessing the site mooted for new houses
-Credit: (Image: Cornwall Council)


A revised plan to build a housing development, which would be accessed through a "congested cul-de-sac", is still an "accident waiting to happen" according to concerned locals.

Lowen Heights Ltd has applied for planning permission to build seven new houses off Boiler Works Road, North Roskear, Camborne. Cornwall Council's west area planning committee deferred making a decision at its July meeting after hearing about safety concerns.

An ambulance driver who lives in Barberry Way, the street which would provide access for vehicles to the proposed new houses, told councillors the road is so narrow it could prove critical for emergency vehicles attempting to reach patients or tackle a fire.

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The committee will discuss the matter again when revised plans are presented at a meeting on Monday, October 14. The council's planning department is recommending that the application should be approved subject to conditions, but the local town council and a number of residents disagree.

Members resolved in July that the application should be deferred to enable the applicant to consider the removal of a garage block, investigate alternative vehicular access and submit full details of a Construction Traffic Management Plan (CTMP).

The garage block has now been omitted from the proposal and land to the rear of the proposed houses would now be laid out with a turning area in the centre and a row of parking bays on either side.

The construction plan proposes the use of temporary access via a private lane to the west of the site, provided through the creation of a temporary 4.5m opening in a boundary hedge, which would be reinstated following completion of the development.

The council's highways officer has raised no objections to use of the access lane for construction. In a fine example of local government English, a planning report states: "It is considered that the proposal represents a betterment in comparison to the original proposal."

However, Camborne Town Council isn't happy. It has said: "The revised plans do nothing to alleviate any of the concerns raised by the town council the last time this application was in front of us. Access to the site once the development is completed still has to go through Barberry Way, which is a congested cul‐de‐sac, and would cause issues when emergency vehicles needed access to the new development.

"There are parking spaces available for residents but there is no consideration for any visitors, this will put greater pressure on the local road network. The removal of the garage from the back of Number 9 Barberry Way is an improvement, however it does not address the problem of the resident being able to maintain the side of the property. If they needed to erect scaffolding to the gable end it would completely block the access for the new development."

A number of local residents have also aired their concerns about the changes to the plan. Matthew Thomas said: "Unfortunately these new plans do absolutely nothing to alleviate the concerns of all residents on Barberry Way and in some ways are actually worse than what was put forward previously.

"Usage of Barberry Way as an access point to this development is still being considered despite it being completely inappropriate due to how dangerous the 90-degree blind turns would be when coming in/out of this area. With Barberry Way being a heavy used pedestrian area for walkers, dog walkers and children playing, this would be an accident waiting to happen."

He added: "Since the developers have clearly demonstrated that the area is not appropriate for heavy goods vehicles since they are using a different access point for this, does this not in itself prove that Barberry Way is not suitable?

"If the developers can temporarily use a different access point and remove part of the hedge for access to the site, then surely this could be used as a permanent solution as well? Doing so would then allow the development to go ahead with no further objections from anyone within Barberry Way and would make for a much safer development for everyone."

The planning committee will consider the revised application from 10am on Monday.