Design Statement

Restronguet Point, Harcourt and Porthgwidden – past, present and future

1.1 Purpose of this Design Statement, formerly Village Design Statement.
The past, present and future. (Refer to appendix 7)
1.2 Village Design Statements
1.3 VDS Working Party, Acknowledgements and Background
1.4 Name change from Village Design Statement to Design Statement
1.5 This Design Statement

1.5.1 The Restronguet Creek Society

1.5.2 The Feock Parish Plan, 2007

1. Introduction

1.1 Purpose of this Design Statement, formerly Village Design Statement. The past, present and future. (Refer to appendix 7)

There have been many changes in the character of Restronguet Point over the past fifty years, even – some say especially – in the last fifteen years. But what changes should there be in the next ten or more years? After a description of the area, the Statement that follows sets out some general points that might influence future design and identifies some specific issues.

This Statement is a Design Statement (DS), the nature of which is explained in the next section. In this case, the area concerned is the community in the area from the end of Restronguet Point to Porthgwidden, including Harcourt. The Design aspect is focused principally on the area as it affects the senses, particularly its visual character. Social issues such as schooling have an impact on design but are better considered in a review of a larger community and so are not addressed here.

Some issues discussed may only be a matter of respecting local character. Others arise from the requirements for highways or the provision of utilities. Legislation applies to some of these issues – for example land usage, tree preservation and planning regulations affecting architecture and the built environment – and so they should be addressed by the relevant authorities. Nationwide, over 400 VDSs have been adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance and it was envisaged that the original VDS prepared by the Friends could similarly be adopted by the county authority, Cornwall Council.

At that time, besides county wide plans, the only formal statement relevant to Restronguet Point was the brief Village Appraisals Policy Statement by Feock Parish Council. Towards the end of 2005, however, Feock Parish Council decided to begin preparing a Parish Plan based on input from the three communities it recognises – Carnon Downs Area, Devoran, Point and Penpol Area, and Feock Area.– and has received additional funding for the task. However, the Parish Plan is much broader in scope than this DS, addressing social as well as design issues. Although many of the issues identified in this DS may resonate with issues identified in the Parish Plan, the focus of this DS is primarily on design. The Parish Plan has been published and is referred to later.

One reason for establishing the Friends of Restronguet Point (FRP), whose objectives are summarised in Appendix 2, was to encourage good planning policies. To that end, in 2004 the FRP prepared 'Guidelines for Property Development on Restronguet Point', which are set out in Appendix 1. The present DS includes this guidance within its broader approach. The DS has been issued to all residences in its area. Comments are welcomed so that a statement reflecting the views of all may be formulated.

This Design Statement complements the Feock Parish Plan in respect of addressing the importance of History and Design issues. www.restronguetpoint.co.uk

also refer, www.feockpc.com

(MK, January 2006, (revised JBC, August 2009).

1.2 Village Design Statements

Village Design Statements (VDSs) were originated in 1993/94 and launched in 1996 as part of the Countryside Agency’s Design in the Countryside project. The project focuses on regional diversity, local distinctiveness and the harmony between buildings, settlements and the landscape. VDSs and Countryside Design Summaries are mechanisms to encourage new development to respect the character of its location. They are produced by local people and give them an opportunity to play a constructive part in plans for building development in their area. The ODPM’s Planning Policy Guidance note 7, The Countryside: Environmental Quality and Economic and Social Development, recognised VDSs as a useful tool to promote good design of new development in rural areas.

By 2002, about 400 villages had either produced or were producing a VDS and about 100 of these had been adopted by local authorities as Supplementary Planning Guidance. This is the first VDS, now DS to be produced in Cornwall.

Research by the town planning consultancy company Baker Associates shows that three pioneering Village Design Statements from pilot studies in 1993/94 successfully influenced development in their villages. They have also had a positive influence on community life.

They have been used effectively to:

influence the content and quality of planning proposals;
assist in and speed up the negotiation process to achieve improvements to features such as layout, scale, height and design of developments;
influence the quality of the resulting development;
increase understanding of local design issues;
focus comments from Parish Councils and other interested parties;
develop other community based projects.

However, they could be more effective in:

promoting imaginative contemporary design;
setting out a more visionary agenda for new development;
keeping up to date with policy and design guidance and local issues.

A VDS is unlike any other planning document. It provides planning advice directly applicable to the statutory planning system and is entirely community‑based. It can be openly critical of existing planning control systems and can suggest specific weaknesses in them that need to be addressed.

(Countryside Agency Research Note (CRN) 53, Village Design Statements - their influence on new development, December 2002)

A major motivation for the formation of the Friends of Restronguet Point was a concern that inappropriate planning decisions were being approved, leading to a decline in the visual quality of developments in Restronguet Point, part of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

(JBC)

1.3 The Origin of FRP

It took six meetings over a period of fourteen months before a public meeting of residents was held on 17 April 2003 which confirmed the formation of The Friends of Restronguet Point.

TR 26-08-09

1.4 Village Design Statement

It was decided that a Village Design Statement should be prepared on 20th January 2005. It was completed on January 15th 2006. The Statement was prepared and funded on behalf of the FRP by a resident of long standing, John Crowther

The following FRP committee members monitored the production of the Statement: Derek Reed, Chairman; Trevor Sharland, Founder Secretary; Rosemary Bassett; James Beeching; John Brock (Parish Councillor); John Crowther (JBC); Heather Ferris (HF); John Hendra; Rex Hudson; Michael Kemp (MK); Wendy Letcher (WL); Tom Rouncefield (present Secretary) (TR).

The members of the Committee, at August 2009, are,

Derek Reed, (Chair), Alan Brownscombe, (Treasurer), John Brock, (Feock Parish Council), Jonathan Dean, Sivaraman “Kumar” Kumaravel, Wendy Gladwyn, Charles Hancock and Tom Rouncefield (Hon Sec). John Crowther maintains and funds the website.

The following organisations and individuals are acknowledged for their valuable assistance with the production of this Statement: Feock Parish Council; GENUKI; Bob Acton (BA); Viv Acton; Ray Archer; Richard Belling (RB); Alun Davies; Tony Dyson; Brian Ferris (BF); Peter Mansfield; Colin North (CN); Tom Rouncefield Jnr.; Barry Simpson; Peter Tremewan (PT) and Craig Weatherhill.

The following are acknowledged for their valuable advice:
Mr Richard Fish, Director, CCC Planning, Transportation and Estates
Mr Andrew Goodman, CCC County Ecologist
Mr Nicholas Johnson, CCC Historic Environment Manager
Mr James Macfarlane, CCC Vegetation Advisor
Mr Peter Tatlow, CCC Divisional Surveyor
Mr Alan Truan, Clerk and Treasurer, Feock Parish Council
Mr Roger Covey, Maritime Conservation Officer, English Nature
Mr Phil Dyke, Property Manager, Fal and Mid‑Cornwall Office, National Trust
Mr J. Anthony Dyson, Restronguet Creek Society
Mr Paul Walton, Cornwall AONB Partnership Manager
Mrs Gill Wilson, Carrick District Councillor and local resident
Mr Martin Northern, Senior Case Officer, CDC
Captain Andy Brigden, CDC Harbourmaster
Mr Geoff Gilbert, Western Power, Redruth East
Mr Derek Hannaford, BT Engineering
Mr Stuart Nicholls, BT Planning Manager
Mr Ray Jervis, Transco

1.4.1 Name change from Village Design Statement to Design Statement.

In the spring of 2007 John Crowther proposed to the Friends that he would accept responsibility for the lead writing, management and funding of the former Village Design Statement and web site, to be renamed, more appropriately, Design Statement. This proposal was agreed at a committee meeting of the Friends held on the 08.02.07.

This Design Statement should be read in conjunction with The Feock Parish Plan which is not primararily concerned with design matters. Design is now accepted by central government, the business community and the Planning Authorities as being an integral part of every day life.

The following members of the FRP committee monitored the production of the Design Statement and are thanked for their valuable advice.
Derek Reed, Chairman; Trevor Sharland; Heather Ferris (HF);John Brock (Parish Councillor); Michael Kemp (MK); Tom Rouncefield (present Secretary) (TR); Jane Griffin (JG); Alan Brownscombe (AB).
Photographs have been taken by John Crowther unless otherwise credited.
(John Crowther OBE B.Arch. (Hons) FRIBA, FCSD, May, 2007).

1.5 This Design Statement

To supplement and read in conjunction with the Feock Parish Plan.

Restronguet Point, Harcourt and Porthgwidden. – past, present and future.

The Parish Plan has been adopted as a set of clear policies for the Council for the next seven years and appropriate finance has been provided. The Council will work with existing local authorities the new Cornwall County in due course, the Police and other agencies, local organisations and residents to help bring the overall aspirations set out in this leaflet to reality

To be involved please contact Feock Parish Council.

Contact Feock Parish Council, Tel: (01872) 863333

Email: feockparishcouncil@fourturnings.fsnet.co.uk

Write to: A.D. Truan Esq., The Clerk/Treasurer, Feock PC, Four Turnings, Feock, Truro, TR3 6QR6QR

1.5.1 Restronguet Creek Society

The Restronguet Creek resembles an inland tidal lake, where twice every day the tide draws sea water from the Carrick Roads through a narrow gap known as the gut’. The Creek itself covers the area of water from Restronguet Point and Weir Point up to the road bridges at Penpol, Devoran and Perran Wharf. The Creek is fed from the Carnon and the Kennal rivers which flow down from the ‘spine’ of mid Cornwall, through an area of extensive tin and copper mining. During the 18th and 19th centuries the Restronguet Creek was an important industrial waterway, navigable by ships of considerable size, which brought pit props from Norway and Wales for the tin mines of mid Cornwall; coal from Wales for the smelting works at Point, for the railway and mine engines and for people’s homes; lime to slake the acid soil on surrounding farmland; and transported copper ore, which had been brought down the Carnon Valley by the Redruth and Chasewater railway.

Over the 19th and 20th centuries the Creek has silted up with debris from extensive mining activity in the Carnon Valley and beyond. The County adit system, which drains the vast area of mineral mining in Cornwall, also flows into the Carnon river at Twelveheads.

Today the Creek is recognised for its beauty, its wildlife and its industrial heritage.

The Restronguet Creek Society was formed in 1972 in order to safeguard these amenities, and to preserve the essential character of the Creek and its amenities for present and future generations. The Society makes any necessary representations to public authorities, industrial organisations and individuals in order to ensure that the creek is not endangered by the decrease of the ebb and flow of salt and fresh water, causing further silting up of the creek; by undesirable shoreside developments; or by other factors, including pollution, which are considered damaging to the preservation of the creek. Also to offer support and collaboration with other areas and associations which have similar objectives.

(For further information, access http:restronguetcreeksociety.org/)

1.5.2 The Feock Parish Plan 2007

The Feock Parish Plan is a welcome addition to the local information available to the members of the Councils, at County, District and Parish level, soon to become the Unitary Authority for Cornwall. It is a credit to the many people who have given their time to make a contribution to this welcome document..

The high quality design of the document and also the high quality of the production of the document was the responsibility of the Cornwall Community Council for the Feock Parish Plan Steering Group and Feock Parish Council.

The Residents Views on Important Envireonmental issues are in the main predictable, however the views of the residents in respect of Design and Setting, Pleasant Gardens, Boundaries, Access to Highways, Historic Areas take a lower priority and are of concern. Sixty percent of the residents consider these matters to be of a low priority. This may explain the lack of interest in the preservation of the verges, innapropriate development and the proposal to underground the services.

These results are generally in accordance with the conclusions already reached in this Design Statement with reference to development on The Point.

A proporton of the residents of The Point, some eight per cent at the moment express their individuality by either removing the traditional Cornish stone hedges in front of their properties and replacing the hedges with two meter high non indiginouus stone walls, usually with high solid gates, usually closed. In one case the grass verge was replaced by tarmac car park spaces. Fortunately by negotiation half the verge has been restored.

The edges of the CCC crossovers have in several cases been edged with non indigenous stone and by paving the crossovers with precast concrete coloured paviours.

All the aformentioned works are illegal and require written approval from the Cornwall County Council, with the exception of the high stone walls which will have received planning permission. It is hoped that the Unitary Authority will take a keener interest in detailed planning control. The Feock Parish Council Parish Plan has expressed an interest in the control of the verges.

(JBC)

Cornwall has led the field in both industry and science in the past. Inventors such as Trevithick, Murdoch and Davy prospered in the county. “Some of the really important inventions and discoveries were made here.” says Professor Alan Livingston, Dean, of University College Falmouth. You will never lose that heritage... it is something to build upon-” The artist community has a blazed a trail for innovation.

“They may have lived and worked locally, but they were outward-looking in their attitudes and they connected internationally,’’ says Dean Alan Livingston. ‘‘Our vision is the same to celebrate where we are, but with the confidence to connect with Europe and the rest of the world.”