News
Friends of Restronguet Point
www.restronguetpoint.co.uk
This website is managed, edited and funded by John Crowther, a resident.
The news section is updated on a regular basis, the views expressed in the newsletter do not necessarily represent the views of the members of the committee.
Oyster fishermen to be spared £4,000 licence fee
Oyster fishermen in a part of Cornwall will not have to pay for new licences if European leaders sweep away the licensing exemption scheme.
Sarah Newton, MP for Truro and Falmouth, said she has secured assurances from the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) that fishermen working on the Fal Estuary will be saved from paying the £4,000 per licence.
Fishermen of the Port of Truro Oyster Fishery have been gathering oysters from the Fal for more than 500 years. The Fishery is the last remaining commercial fishing fleet under sail in Europe.
Marine Fisheries Licensing was introduced by the European Union in 1992, but an exemption was secured meaning Fal oyster fishermen did not need to buy Marine Fisheries Licenses.
European leaders are reviewing the exemptions may remove the exemption covering the Port of Truro Oyster Fishery.
If the move goes ahead the cost of buying a Marine Fisheries Licence could be as much as £4,000.
Mrs Newton said she was assured by Sir Bill Cailaghan, chairman of the MMO, that if they extended Marine Fisheries Licences to the Port of Truro Oyster Fishery fisher- men will not be charged for licences.
She said: “I am pleased that progress has been made in securing the ongoing viability of the Port of Truro Oyster Fishery. The Fishery, and the annual Fal Oyster Festival, is an asset to Cornwall, and I will continue to do all I can to ensure that the last fleet under sail in Europe continues to supply oysters for generations to come.”
The Western Morning News, 14 October 20ll
Web-site.www.restronguetpoint.co.uk
The website, managed and financed by John Crowther, and designated “Web-site of the Month” by Inside Cornwall magazine continues to attract attention. It has been monitored by Google Analytical since 2007and has been visited thousands of times from all over the world.
The Design Statement has been admired by other localities endeavouring to produce their own village design statements. Residents are very welcome to contribute material to our site. It is also good that Feock Parish Council has a web-site, http://www.feockpc.com/ with links to this site.
Social Gatherings.
We did not organise a social gathering this year for various intervening reasons but intend to continue this aspect of our programme. Our Committee and residents generally believe that the candle lit supper which residents organised biennially was an excellent idea and the Friends would very much like to be involved in its revival. This summer the Friends donated £50towards the excellently organised Street party in Feock village to mark the royal wedding.
Speeding
The current speed limit of 3 0mph is too fast for a narrow country lane with many gates right up to the edge of the carriageway and a number of obscured entrances.
The dissenters’ argument is not one of need. Their contention is that drivers generally ignore speed limit signs, the police do not have the resources to enforce
Our contention is that drivers generally observe speed limit signs and consequently a 20 mph limit will be respected by the vast majority. This is supported by the results of a radar speed check on Restronguet Point in July of this year. It recorded, over a week, approximately 1000 vehicles in each direction. In summary, the findings were:
• Northbound, 84.3 % of vehicles kept within the 30mph limit, 15.7 % did not and 0.4 % exceeded 40mph,
• Southbound, 82.9 % kept within the speed limit, 17.1 % did not and 0.8 % exceeded 40mph.
We will discuss the results with Councillor Jim Currie, whose recommendation it was to carry out the speed check, to plan the next steps. We will also make the point that the detector was not sited well to monitor the fast downhill stretch of the road and secondly that drivers soon became aware of the speed check.
We believe that the beauty of our area depends very much on retaining the natural verges and walls of local stone. It may be subjective but we think that some of our verges have recovered or have been improved recently. In this respect It has been pleasing that building developers have, to some extent, been complying with our request to arrange for contractors to park on building sites and not on the narrow roads or on verges. We note that under the Feock Parish Plan that the Parish Council also regards the retention of verges and walls to be important. In addition to the importance of appropriate stone walls, suitable entrance gates are important to
our environment. Our committee will soon consider whether we should ask the planners to take a more proactive approach to walls and gates in order to preserve the general amenity of the area. Currently it seems that the planners usually accept the choice of the developer.
Marble ilead.
The Friends had intended to place a plaque at the Point containing an outline of some of its history. This proposal received support from Feock Parish Council and the Restronguet Creek Society. However alternative suggestions have since been received and more consideration needs to he ghien to what form the p1aqe should tke
The ferry between Marble Head and the Pandora pub worked well and fears of parking problems were not realised.
TJnderroundhw Utilities
Over the last few years we have explored the possibility of getting the overhead utility cables put under ground. Recently residents have raised the issue again. The undergrounding would, without doubt, be a significant improvement to the locality in Harcourt as well as Restronguet Foint. Inc tirst estimates ot costs trom Western I-’ower and J I were a total or approximately £400,000. In order to determine whether a project might be viable we conducted a survey to assess local opinion and only 14 households expressed willingness to bear their share of the cost
The Marine & Coastal Access Act 2009.
This legislation in essence gave Natural England the powers to create a footpath around England’s coastline. This coastal path would have encircled our area giving the public right of way on a pathway through gardens adjacent to the sea. This would have been a radical change affecting residential privacy. Fortunately, in May 2010, the “All England Coastal Footpath” programme was suspended indefinitely (except for a few miles near Weyrnouth) for financial reasons.
We look forward to meeting you all on 28th October.
Derek Reed
Breaking News.
16.45. 24 August 2011. Informed by hand by Derek Reed, the chairman of the friends that the planning application has been withdrawn shortly before the start of the planning meeting.
Objectors say home would create dangerous precedent
August 4, 2011 By West Briton
AN ESTATE agent’s plans to build a luxury home in the front garden of his Restronguet Point property could set a new precedent for overdevelopment, neighbours say.
Ian Lillicrap, of waterfront and country home estate agents Lillicrap Chilcott, has applied for planning permission to build a five-bedroom house with spa, cinema, library and orangery on the Carrick Roads shore.
Plans for the 10,000sq ft home have sparked strong opposition, with Friends of Restronguet Point chairman Derek Reed saying feelings are running high.
“In eight years as chairman I have never known so many people to come to me with objections,” he said, adding that the view from the water would be “severely damaged” and the house would be visible from the Roseland Peninsula.
Feock parish councillors said the house would be outside village settlement boundaries, with clerk Alan Truan saying there were “other options” for the site, while chairman Sue Felton insisted the proposal contravened a host of local planning policies.
“This is a landscape of national importance,” she said.
“Conservation and preservation of the landscape is a priority over development.”
The objections were heard at a public site meeting at which the plans for the house were put on display.
Mr Lillicrap said he and planning officer David Cranmer, who is publicly supporting the application, had met for the first time at last week’s meeting.
June Cottins, representing concerns from the point of view of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), said: “The precedent is huge. We’ll have applications on all the other Carrick Roads sites if this goes ahead.”
Her statement echoed comments on Cornwall Council’s planning website. Next-door neighbours Mick and Tracey Philpott said the position “so low down towards the foreshore may well set an important precedent”, adding: “This density of development would inevitably destroy the character of the point.”
Neighbours Peter and Marion Fish attacked the “unsympathetic” design which “resembles an industrial unit or a 1960s infant school”.
Mr Lillicrap said the complaints from a “small handful” of people were a “great shame” but a “fact of Restronguet Point life”, adding that there was also “emphatic” local support for his proposal.
“I severely question the sudden infatuation which certain people have with what the shoreline of Restronguet Point looks like from the Carrick Roads,” he said.
“There has been an enormous amount of development. There are probably only five or six properties which haven’t been changed radically or totally rebuilt over the past 20 or 30 years.
“To suddenly decide this is the one which is the straw that breaks the donkey’s back I find quite peculiar. I don’t believe the objections are anything other than personal.”
Applicant attacks 'vocal yokels' over home objections
Thursday, August 11, 2011
West Briton
Follow
A WAR of words has erupted between residents of one of Cornwall's most expensive coastal stretches and a Truro estate agent over his plans to build a luxury home in his garden.
Ian Lillicrap, of Lillicrap Chilcott, wants to plant a 10,000sq ft, three-storey, five-bedroom house with a spa, cinema, library and orangery on Restronguet Point, overlooking the Carrick Roads shoreline.
Residents and the Friends of Restronguet Point wrote to the West Briton expressing outrage at the proposal and rejecting Mr Lillicrap's claim only a "small handful" of people had objected. The Friends said the site lay outside the settlement boundary, would set a precedent and ruin an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
After the wrong image appeared in the West Briton last week, the estate agent refused to allow publication of images of his proposal, which can be seen by using reference PA11/02029 on Cornwall Council's planning register at http://planning.cornwall.gov.uk/online-applications/
Impact
Secretary of the Friends Tom Rouncefield said: "He wants to suppress its publication because he knows the impact it would have.
"Mr Lillicrap has a sizeable house there already which he wants to use for his parents and build a new house down to the waterfront."
Most of the houses, he said, had been developed since the war, adding: "Gradually people made improvements but all kept to one house, one plot, away from the water's edge."
Resident John Dobson called the River Fal a "scenic treasure" and said Cornwall Council had put a tree preservation order on the whole Point.
Responding, Mr Lillicrap said the planning committee would decide the outcome of his development, and not some "vocal yokels".
"It's a democracy, not a totalitarian state based on mob rule," he said.
"It's not the decision of a small handful of people who have done considerable improvements to their own homes."
The Friends' chairman Derek Reed said its position was "objective" and not "personal" nor "nimby".
"I've never known so many members aroused to approach me with such strong and realistic objections to a proposed development," he said.
"It has indeed been a storm of protest and I am unable to understand Mr Lillicrap stating that the complaints came from a 'small handful' of people.
"The primary reason for forming our residents' association, eight years ago, was in an endeavour to protect the natural beauty of the environment and I fully agree with June Cottins, representing the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, when she stated the precedent is huge.
"We will have applications on all the other Carrick Roads sites if this goes ahead."
Comment by John Crowther. This application must be resisted and rejected at the highest level, in particular by the local Cornwall Councillor. This application breaks just about every planning guidline.
16.45. 24 August 2011. Informed by hand by Derek Reed the Chairman of the friends, that the planning application has been withdrawn.
West Briton, 21.July 2011.
New ferry is launched from fire-ravaged inn
A CHARITABLE ferry service has risen from the ashes of a devastating fire allowing walkers and visitors to access the upper reaches of the magnificent River Fal.
Cornwall Ferries Ltd has launched the Pandora Rover- an on-demand operation serving many key locations along the river.
Passengers can hop on and off the ferry between Mylor, Pandora, Point Quay and Devoran, Loe Beach, Trelissick Garden, Smugglers Cottage and Roundwood Quay.
All running costs of the service are covered by Cornwall Ferries Ltd and operated by licensed and paid skippers and volunteer crew. Passengers are simply asked to make a donation to charity in exchange for their fare.
Money raised will be split between Helston-based ShelterBox and the Pearl of Africa’s Children’s Choir - the company provides financial support to a village school and clinic in Uganda and some of its staff visit Uganda to work with the local people.
The service is running throughout July and August from l0.3Oam until 3.3Opm. It will not operate on Monday and Tuesday and booking is essential - to do so call 07772 302232.
The Pandora Rover aims to support riverside restaurants, tearooms and pubs. For more information please visit www.falriver.co.uk/pandora
The Pandora Inn burns down. 23.03.2011.
Fire engines on station, morning 24.03.20ll
Revealed: the West Country’s most desired addresses
Western Morning News, Friday January 7, 2011.
Properties at Restronguet Point, cost an average of just under £1.5M.
BY ELEANOR GASKARTH
Six well-heeled streets in Devon and Cornwall feature in the latest list of the top 20 most expensive in the South West.
The majority of the priciest promenades are waterside, with beautiful views of the coast or its estuaries.
While Sandbanks in Poole, Dorset, dominates the Lloyds TSB list, Truro, Dartmouth and the South Hams also get a look-in.
Properties in Restronguet Point on the peninsula at Feock, near Truro, have an average price of £1,478,000 — placing the street as the third most expensive in the region.
Ian Lillicrap, director of Cornish estate agent Lillicrap Chilcott, has lived on Restronguet Point for 12 years and calls it “the best road in
Cornwall.” He said his business have sold properties for up to £2.7 million there within the past 14 months and that in a couple of years he expected some prices to rise to £5 million.
Mr Lillicrap said: “I think in the past the street has been underrated — until now people haven’t realised what having this no-through road, with water on both sides, gives to buyers. “Restronguet is very peaceful, with zero traffic noise. The most you will hear is a boat passing by. Homes on the eastern side look onto the Fal Estuary and often have deep water moorings, and on the western side you have lovely views of the tidal Restronguet Creek.”
December 2010
(John Crowther, Editor, December 2010).
A long term project by the editor,John Crowther.
The provision of a Heritage Tablet at the end of Restronguet Point at Marble Head with extensive views over the Creek.
The design and layout of the proposed tablet, approximately one metre wide.
Support at Officer level
At the time that I selected the information to be included within this website, for the designers, Creative Edge of Truro, Mr Martin Woodley, a Senior Planning Officer, of the CDC, now the CC, suggested that a Heritage Tablet be provided adjacent to the seat generously donated several years ago by the Restronguet Creek Society. Residents and visitors alike would be able to visually relate the information on the tablet to the actual location.
Mr. Nicholas Johnson MBE, the highly respected, Historic Environment Manager to the former Cornwall County Council also supported the provision of a Heritage Tablet to set out, the history of the Restronguet Creek. The design to include text, diagrams and illustrations of historical relevance.
The designers and contractors.
In early November 2010 I decided to commission Creative Edge on a fee basis, to design the tablet with the information I provided from the website and set the wheels in motion to provide the tablet.
Creative Edge will work with ISG Pearce signs of Exeter.
I met a contractor experienced in the fabrication of stainless steel to establish a budget price for the lectern.
I met Mr David Kramner a CC planning officer, and later Mr Alan Truan, the Parish Clerk and Treasurer. They were most helpful and supportive. The formal permission for the approval of the sign rests only with the Feock Parish Council.
The specification of the Tablet and the supporting lectern.
The tablet is proposed to be a little over one metre wide. A coloured digital print to be bonded within a thick acrylic, ultraviolet (UV) light resistant sheet and mounted on a simple stainless steel salt resistant lectern supported on a stainless steel column.
The tablet would be suitable for viewing by a child and overlook the Pandora Inn and Restronguet Creek.
The overall cost of the design and stand, including fixing cost will be approximately £3000.
I have already received a substantial offer of financial support from abroad, before even starting an appeal.
The tablet will only be ordered following the approval of the interested parties and individuals
Whilst every precaution will be taken to design a vandal proof tablet, there is a history of damage to CC signs, removal and theft of signs and the application of graffiti to signs on the Point. This is an identifiable risk.
It is intended to order prints in duplicate at a relatively low additional cost of £100 to cover the cost of replacement. The encapsulated print is expected to have a life of four to five years.
I suggest that the sign would most appropriately be located in one of two alternative locations. Residents and visitors alike would be able to relate the information on the tablet to the actual location.
Photograph of a development model to full size.
The first location is immediately in front of the seat donated appropriately by the Restronguet Creek Society overlooking the Pandora Inn and Restronguet Creek.
The tablet would be protected from the weather and less likely to be vandalised.
The land is within the ownership of the Feock Parish Council.
Photograph of a development model to full size.
The second location, is suggested to be opposite to the steps to the foreshore with magnificent views over Restronguet Creek. The tablet would be exposed and more likely to be vandalised.The land is within the ownership of the Feock Parish Council.
The subjects proposed to be provided on the Heritage Tablet with text, photographs and diagrams.
30 schooners moored in the Creek, serviced by barges
A mining Heritage
A Mining Landscape
Alluvial tin mining at Carnon Mine.
Friends of Restronguet Point
Pandora Inn and the Ferry
Pollution, the Wheal Jane accident
Rowing races
Ship building
Strafing of the Creek by a Stuka bomber during the war
The “Stone feature” at Marble Head.
Marble Head Quay
The Feock Parish Council
The Restronguet Creek Society
World Heritage Site, 2006.
Sponsors
Following the approval of all the interested parties and individuals, sponsors will be sought from Professional pactices, commercial firms, and private individuals with an interest in the history of the area. Their contributions would be recognised by the reproduction of their Mark/Logo in a discreet form at the foot of the tablet. The contribution by each party should not exceed a few hundred pounds sterling.
Some years ago when I was promoting the erection of a tablet, the Feock Parish Council and the Restronguet Creek Society offered to make a financial contribution.. Financial constraints have hardened in the meantime, however it would be appreciated if support and even a small financial contribution could still be made.
(John Crowther), Editor, December 2010.
Beyond Bricks and Mortar.
Reproduced from the Royal Society of Arts Journal, Winter 2010
Architecture is about adding to Community life and Architecture.
John McAslan,
John McAslan founded John McAslan + Partners in 1996, having previously trained with Cambridge Seven Associates in Boston, and Richard Rogers in London, before becoming co-principal of Troughton McAslan in 1984. The projects he has led have been widely published, and their practice's architecture has generated monographs by Thames & Hudson, the Architectural Review, and Merrell. McAslan's has won over 50 international design awards, and the practice has been Architect of the Year on four occasions, most recently in 2006. McAslan has taught extensively, been an awards assessor, and personally oversees the RIBA/ICE McAslan Fund, which supports collaborative projects by students and recent graduates in Britain and overseas. Among McAslan's best-known architectural projects are the transformation of the Roundhouse, London, the De La Warr Pavilion at Bexhill, headquarters complexes for Max Mara in Italy and Yapi Kredi bank in Turkey and major transport and infrastructure schemes in the UK.
Architects have a responsibility to promote well being in the communities they serve,
What does the government’s catchphrase, the Big Society, mean to architects? Tome. it suggests the need for a more proactive recognition of many smaller societies, and their culture and place in Britain. If the Big Society, and the new architecture within it, is to mean anything and have any improving effect, it must arise not just from the bare bones of a client’s or local authority’s requirements, but also from a broader attempt to build a stronger social and cultural identity.
Easy to say, hard to achieve. The architect’s fundamental role — to design buildings and places that improve lives — is increasingly under threat. Successive governments have talked about valuing higher-quality architecture, including in the public realm. Yet both this administration (to date) and the last have effectively endorsed a hands-off policy in relation to the regulation and promotion of good architecture and public spaces.
In general, planning authorities do not have the in-house expertise or the statutory teeth to prevent persistent second- rate developers from peddling shabbily conceived ‘regeneration’ schemes. Worse still, the new government has announced that it will withdraw funding from CABE, which has acted as a design watchdog in major redevelopment or new-build projects.
This won’t throttle the design of excellent buildings and regeneration schemes; good developers will continue to employ good architects, as will more culturally ambitious local authorities that are still in a position to pursue significant public projects. It is not always politically easy, however, for cash-strapped councils to resist architecturally unremarkable development proposals that seem to contribute to better local amenities or a rise in local earnings. Furthermore, many private or public-sector clients who claim to understand the socio - economic value of good architecture won’t pay the five or six percent extra in design and construction costs to get it. Consider the rash of ‘stunning’ waterside developments that sprang -. across pre-crash Britain, from big showpiece housing ghetto- Scotland’s estuaries to empty or unfinished blocks of ‘designer fiats on Ipswich marina. One wonders what the cultural legacy of such developments will be.
Our city centres, meanwhile, are becoming more closely controlled. Britain has the highest density of CCTV cameras in the world. In Manchester, the city core is effectively controlled by a private company funded by business and the city council. Both of which want to create a secure, closely monitored, retail- - business-led zone. If this becomes normal in our towns and will it be socially and culturally inclusive, or divisive? Is ii or eerily uncivil? How responsive can these approaches be i multiple cultures and wide range of earning levels in a big - or a city? How do they unify people in ways other than prom collective consumption?
These are challenging questions. Constraint should force architects to maximise design possibilities. The starting point of design is about responding to the needs of the people who will use a building or place, and about working out how new buildings and places add to the vitality of the areas and activities around. A nominal rise in living standards, supported by new buildings is only meaningful if matched by an improvement in community life.
Good design also means looking beyond a client’s brief, where appropriate, to consider local engagement. My practice (and we are by no means alone in this approach has for more than a decade set aside a percentage of our design fees to fund or promote local projects that have the effect of extending our bigger projects into local communities. helping to strengthen the small societies that make up the Big Society.
Architecture is about adding to community life as a whole”
Abridged, JBC, December 2010.
STOP PRESS
Results for the Undergrounding Survey,
The results for the Undergrounding Survey, the deadline for which is today, 21st October, give 14 households for it and 13 against and 49 households not bothering to reply, so the project will be shelved for the foreseeable future.
Tom Rouncefield.
Comment, John Crowther , Editor.
There are 80 households on The Point.14 households voted for, 13 against and 49 households not bothering to reply,
I was surprised and disappointed at the lack of interest by the majority of the householders. An almost equal minority of householders were for or against the proposal. Is this result due to apathy, a lack of interest in the control of the environment, or financial priority?
The recently established Cornwall Council, Feock Parish Council and AONB, although supporting undergrounding, missed the opportunity to implement the proposal a few years ago when the costs would have been half.
A rerrestrial provision maybe sooner.
From ANNNE MARTIN ,
PRINCE GEORGE, British Columbia, Canada
By email, July 9th, 2010
I am delighted to have discovered your website. I lived briefly at Restronguet Point at the start of World War 11, before my family moved to Loe Beach, Feock. My parents. Captain and Mrs. Fred Graham. rented the Jacobson’s cottage for holidays before the war, and my mother, her sister and I moved there from London when war was declared.
I can’t find the reference now but visiting the Friends ol Restronguet Point website a few months ago I came across information about the ferry that used to operate between the Point and the Pandora. Mr. Jacobson was mentioned but there as no information about him so I thought I could fill in some details.
I don’t know his first name (Peter Jacobson, advised by Peter and Lorretta Neilsen, the present owners of the modernised and extended cottage, JBC), but Mr. Jacobson was born in Denmark and served on sailing ships. His wife had been born in the 200 year-old cottage we rented, just down the lane just down the lane from the Jacobson’s house. They had one child, Betty, which we kept in touch until her death in Falmouth. We took her to see the old house when it was being converted into holiday cottages. The house had built by her father and she was delighted to hear the building contactors say how well it bad been constructed. On the same occasion, we took Betty to to St. Feock church and there she found her father’s grave on the south side of the church. The graveyard was overgrown at the time so it was difficult to find,
Access to the house and the cottage was off the road down a lane that was nearly opposite the laundry. My early memories there include being rowed about by Mr. Jacobson with his walrus moustaches, seaman’s cap and pipe, and playing in the derelict boats that were lying on the quay. I also remember the ship’s bell that was used to summon Mr. Jacobson from his house to row people across the Creek. I took a photo of it in 1951 but never saw it again. We presumed it bad been stolen.
Your website also listed details of notable Restronguet residents. You may be interested to know that Mr. Fred Fairbrother and his wife lived at “Casanton”. He graduated in The Honours School of Chemistry at Manchester University In 1908, and was elected Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chemistry in 1957, He spent his career in education, finishing as headmaster of the Cedars School Leighton Buzzard. He had a lifelong interest in growing roses, was a member the National Rose Society for many years and became President in 1959. His book “Roses” was published in collaboration with the RHS in I962. Mr. Fairbrother used to coach me in maths and chemistry during school holidays (I went to the Truro High School for Girls) and after each tutorial he would take me round his garden overlooking the Carrick Roads and demonstrate the intricacies of rose breeding. His wife had a particular interest in breeding delphiniums.
Thinkrng of various residences at Restronguet, I recall my paternal grandmother and an aunt living briefly in a disused railway carriage there. I don’t know what its history was.
I was in Feock last autumn and was delighted to be recognized by Mrs. Joyce Lilley the late Jack Lilley’ sister-in-law.
Anne Martin (nee Graham)
Feock resident 1939 to 1958
The Marine and Coastal Access Act, 2010.
£50m coastal path is tipped into the abyss
Robin Henry , The Sunday Times, 01.08.2010
A plan to create an unbroken footpath around the coastline of England has been shelved because of spending cuts.
The £50m scheme, which would have given walkers the right to roam along almost 2,500 miles of coast, was trumpeted as one of Gordon Brown’s “big ideas” when it was announced in 2008.
Yet more than two years later, not a single foot of the trail has been laid. The project has been dragged through a legislative quagmire amid strong opposition from private landowners who would have been required to allow public access.
One glitch involved Hilary Benn, then Labour environment secretary, who while advocating the path was accused of blocking access to the estuary frontage of his family’s farm in Essex.
This weekend officials at Natural England, the government quango responsible for the All England Coast Path, said the project had been delayed indefinitely in favour of cheaper, local improvements.
The agency has shelved the plan as its parent body, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), offers cost savings to the Treasury of up to 50%.
Only the first stage of the path, a 14-mile stretch around Weymouth, in Dorset, is likely to go ahead. Even that will not be completed until 2012, when the area will host Olympic sailing events.
Work on other stretches in Norfolk, Somerset, Kent, Cumbria and Yorkshire may not start next year as planned.
Tom Lewis, a manager at Natural England, said the cost of the national scheme was “no longer acceptable in the current economic climate”.
“We are now being realistic and flexible and looking at what we will be able to deliver in terms of coastal access in certain areas,” he added.
“I can safely say we will not see an All England Coast Path in the next 10 years as was planned.”
The £5Om budget had included the cost of building bridges and stiles, maintaining routes and providing for horse riders and cyclists. Fighting legal challenges from landowners could have significantly inflated the final bill.
The planning and consultation for the section around Weymouth alone will cost up to £70,000 and will require Natural England to negotiate rights of way with 161 landowners.
Although the Marine and Coastal Access Act commit the government to working towards a full English coastal path, it does not impose a deadline for completion. Natural England had thought it could be achieved in a decade.
Brown, the former prime minister, unveiled the legislation in May 2008 but it did not get through parliament until November last year.
This was partly because the act addressed other complex issues, including marine conservation, and partly because of resistance from landowners who wanted an appeals procedure.
Natural England claims that 30% of the English coastline is inaccessible to walkers, although private landowners believe the figure is only 16%, and say much of that is made up of ports and harbours.
Ramblers campaigned for greater access after right-to- roam freedoms were introduced in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
But the Country Land & Business Association, which represents half of England’s landowners, said a national scheme had always been misguided and should now be scrapped altogether.
Coastal Access Scheme
Copies of the Coastal Access Scheme are available at:http://naturalengland.etraderstores.com/NaturalEnglandShop/NE269
Copies of the Summary Report on the Consultation Scheme consultation are available at:http://naturalengland.etraderstores.com/NaturalEnglandShop/NE268
Antiques Road Show 2010 at the AGM.
The Chairman reported that the event had generated a profit of £185 which, as requested by the guest valuer Mr David Lay, had been sent to the Parkinson’s Disease Society. The Society had responded with a certificate expressing their thanks for the support received from the Friends. Thirty-six people had brought a fascinating variety of antique items for valuation. The Committee agreed that it had been a successful occasion and DR reported that Mr Lay had written to say that he would like to do it again.
Restronguet Point is the ultimate in ‘des res’ West
West Briton, Thursday January 7, 2010, and Western Morning News, Friday, January 8, 2010.
A RURAL road lined with beautiful waterfront houses near Truro has been named as one of the most expensive streets in the South West.
Stunning views stretching east across Carrick Roads or west up Restronguet Creek have made Restronguet Point near Feock a desirable place to live.
Many of the homes in the designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty have gardens which roll down to the shore, some with private slipways.
According to a survey by the Halifax, houses in the last five years have sold for an average of £1,015,769, but estate agents say recent prices have hit nearly three times that.
Resident of 10 years and chairman of the Friends of Restronguet Point, Derek Reed said: “It is high, so there is no chance of being flooded. We have wonderful sea views and it is nicely covered in trees.
“It is difficult to find another place like it and the value of property is going up around here all the time. It’s a great place to live.”
Only houses on streets in Poole’s famous Sandbanks, inhabited by a plethora of famous footballers including Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp and his son Jamie, came in at a higher cost in the region.
‘Incredible location’
Ian Lillicrap, director of Lillicrap Chilcott estate agents in Truro, who also lives on Restronguet Point, said: “Restronguet is an incredible location, especially compared with somewhere as cramped and ridden with traffic as the Sandbanks Peninsula.
“It is the only location Cornwall where you can be five minutes drive from Truro, ten minutes drive from Falmouth and on the eastern shore you have direct water frontage, if you’re very lucky your own dry dock and if you’re really lucky your own slip way.
“There is no other location in Cornwall that gives you such easy access to deep water, and what is said to be amongst the finest sailing waters in the world.
“I have heard it said that the western side is known as the sunny side and the eastern is known as the money side.”
Comments by John Crowther, January, 2010.
"People are more important than buildings".
We have lived on The Point for a little over 40 years.
At that time there were only a handful of houses or cottages on the Point. A 60 foot wide plot cost £500 and a new house about £8,000 to £10,000 thousand.
With hindsight it might have been preferable for the then Trustees to the Porthgwidden Estate to have specified a minimum width of plot to 180 feet thereby reducing the density of development on The Point, providing for substantial tree planting and landscaping opportunities.
At the time there were restrictions in respect of design which fell by the wayside over the years.
I consider that stricter controls should be enforced by the new Cornwall Council to strictly control planting on the verges within the ownership of CC.
Vehicular Entrances to Properties, Sight Lines. The vital application of safe sight lines to vehicular entrances previously the responsibility of the County Council, passed to the District Council now again the direct responsibility of Cornwall Council. I seem to remember that when I started in practice, the gate would be set back 7’6” from the highway and the sight lines splayed 15 feet each side from the centre pint of access. The gates to many properties are set close to the highway, this means that it is dangerous to cross to the highway without a second person providing assistance.
The preservation of the verges,
Previously passed from the County Council to the District Council, now again the direct responsibility of Cornwall Council. Supported by FPC.
The lack of direction to implement the introduction of double yellow lines to the western end of the Cornwall Council Highway on Restronguet Point adjacent to the “Turning only No Parking” sign. This sign is ignored.
The lack of refusal , monitoring, or placing a condition on the planning approval notice, to the construction of dwarf stone walls and paviours to vehicular crossings within the ownership of Cornwall Council, now the direct responsibility of Cornwall Council.
“No Through Road”. A resident of long standing, suggests the introduction of a direction sign adjacent to The Clock House, to read, “No Through Road”. Many visitors to the area, unfamiliar with the locality, expect to travel directly from the Point to St. Mawes, Falmouth, the Pandora, or Restronguet, to name but a few. The responsibility of Cornwall Council.
The repainting of the road white lines to the three way junction adjacent to The Clock House. The responsibility of Cornwall Council.
The undergrounding of the services. Although, following the recent survey, only 14 of the 80 households supported the proposal, I consider that undergrounding (supported by the FPC and AONB) to be of great importance.
The introduction of high speed broadband, hopefully by April 2011, will be enormous benefit to the area. The responsibility of the Services authorities.
The long term provision of a sign at Marble Head at the end of The Point overlooking Restronguet Creek.
The sign is proposed to be in the form of an information tablet set on a lectern.
The lack of control of speeding vehicles on the Point, this is a matter of great concern to the residents. To be controlled by the Police and Cornwall Council.
The former Cornwall County sign at the western end of the CC Highway at the end of the Point clearly defined the access to the foreshore as a Footpath.
The sign was stolen, now recently replaced. A serious accident could occur to the occupant of the adjacent residence by a passing motor vehicle illegally using the pedestrian only footpath. The replacement sign is half the area of the original sign. The original sign design, which read, "PUBLIC FOOTPATH, NO VEHICLES", was much larger in area with a graphic of a pedestrian, and an arrow pointing left. The new sign is much smaller, with only the words "Public Footpath" and an arrow. The sign is set parallel to the footpath and difficult to see. The former CCC granted the footpath at the end of The Point official status. There are opportunities not only to improve this pathway but also to improve the areas from which and to which it leads.
The access to the rocks and foreshore at the end of The Point could be made safer, the boat storage areas more accessible and organised and the approach to The Point more attractive.
The provision of a bus shelter at the junction of the lane to Harcourt with the CC road along The Point.
CCC tree felling on verges.
The existing policy by the tree officers is far too stringent, unreasonable and difficult to control. The policy by CC far more reasonable.
“As far as the felling of trees is concerned, we generally resist the temptation to remove them unless they constitute a danger to user or adjacent landowners. We always seek the opinion of our forestry officers in determining the level of danger before taking action. Clearing verges for cosmetic reasons is outside the scope of my maintenance budget at the present time”.
(Peter Tatlow, CCC Divisional Surveyor, December 2005)
A policy as regards the provision of further and adequate public car parking on The Point is urgently required.
Opposition to any further development of the three fields at the eastern end of The Point adjacent to Harcourt and Porthgwidden, must be supported
Repairs to the potholes to the CC Highway, Cornwall County Highways required following the severe winter weather
The cast iron CC fingerpost at the junction of the road to The Point with the main roads to Truro and Feock.
The former CCC now Cornwall County intended to reinstate funds for the preservation, repair and redecoration of this and similar signposts. The present situation regarding funding under the new Unitary Authority needs to be clarified. The sign is recorded with the new Cornwall Council, Environment and Planning Department records, formerly the County Highways Department. The sign was damaged some years ago when the cast iron finger direction arm to Truro was snapped off by a passing vehicle. Despite repeated attempts by me, the sign remains in a dilapidated condition, particularly as the sign is the last direction sign to Restronguet Point. The sign is further spoilt by the temporary commercial signs or notices added by highly respected local organisations. It is suggested that these organisations apply in the normal way for official planning permission, with properly designed separate signs suitable for the location, and suitable for within an area within a AONB. Responsible Interest should be shown by the RDC, CC, and AONB.
Appointment of a small team of highly qualified design architects to advise the councils on Architectural and design matters. I understand that only one architect remains within the employment of the CC.
These matters need to be addressed by our representative councillors of the Feock Parish Council and Cornwall Council.
I suggest that the senior officers at Cornwall County, need to "Walk the Point" and take note of these long standing problems.
Subject to the area of the site, limited multi storey developments should be considered to provide variety and flats for the elderly.
Several houses have already been demolished for redevelopment, opportunities should be taken by Cornwall County to raise architectural design standards on The Point.
Social Gathering, BBQ, 16th August 2009.
The barbeque lunch for the Friends and residents of Porthgwidden, Harcourt and Restronguet Point and their friends was held on the 16th August, hosted by Wendy and David Gladwyn at Providence. Wendy and David were assisted by the wives and husbands of the members of the committee. The Chairman arranged and funded the live music.
The event was very well supported by not only Friends, but also by the residents of the village of Feock This was a special occasion to meet neighbours, members and non members. Grateful thanks to all those concerned, In particular Wendy and David Gladwyn. Between thirty and forty guests were present. The BBQ was a great success and reintroduced many old friends.
Our musicians.
The pit
The pit at the end of The Point has by many been accepted by many as a former saw pit. However the use of the pit has recently been questioned by Tom Rouncefield, the secretary of the FRP, an historian.
(JBC) referred the matter to Nicholas Johnson, Historic Environment Manager of The Historic Environment Service. The service is registered as an Archaeological Organisation with the Institute of Field Archaeologists.
He comments as follows, "Unfortunately we do not have any information about the saw pit at the end of the point. I must admit I have always been puzzled about this as it seems such a strange place to have one. The 2nd edition of the OS map(c 1907) marks a building at this location (more or less) and I wonder whether this may be a boat house with a half tide slip. However it is narrow. The known sawpit at Roundwood quay is much more convincing as it is on level ground and has the right dimensions. Saw pits need flat ground around all four sides otherwise you cannot support the logs. I imagine that the only reason why one would need a sawpit is for shipbuilding and as far as I know there is no tradition of that on the Point. I imagine that only a visit to the Record Office may help".
(JBC, 16.008.09)
The website is monitored by Google Analytical.
The Google analytical programme has been active since October 2007.
Google Analytics, from 07/10/2010 to 02/07/2010
Visits, 8147, Page views,17730, Pages visit, 2.18, % New Visits, 81.70%, 6,660 visitors.
8,147 visits came from 118 countries/territories, and 57 languages.
The majority of enquiries came from the UK, the USA, Australia, Italy, Germany, Spain, Canada, and France. Amongst the most unexpected, Malta, Benin, Israel,Togo,Slovakia and Ghana.
Panama, Kenya, Lithuania, Nigeria, Uganda, Bulgaria, Norway, Luxembourg, Dominican Republic, Falkland Islands, Ukraine, Serbia, Pakistan, Colombia, Saudy Arabia,Mexico, Cambodia, Kuwait, Tanzania, Mauritius, Slovakia Jordan, Slovenia and Samoa.
RIBA South West Regional Award
Congratulations to Charles Hancock a former member of the FRP committe and architects Muma of London to have scored a double by being awarded RIBA South West Regional Awards for the Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange Gallery, Penzance. Charles is the Chairman of the galleries.
The village of Feock and immediate surrunding areas
Following the completion of the Design Statement for the Friends of Restronguet Point, I considered that it might be useful to include a selection of the interesting buildings within the village of Feock and the its neighbourhood vicinity to support and complement the Feock Parish Plan which may be found at the following website. (http://www.feockpc.com/)
This is a preliminary exercise. I welcome constructive comments in order that the document may be corrected and expanded to be useful to the residents of the village of Feock.
The record of listed buildings in the Parish of Feock may be found at English Heritage, National Monuments Record, Feock, whose website is:
http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/QuickResults/Default.aspx
A Basic Search for 'Feock' found 78 Listed buildings, listed within the area of Feock, (Within the search box, type “Feock” for further details and photographs). My compilation of interesting buildings (with photographs and commentary) is:
The Parish Church of Saint Feock
The Methodist Chapel at Goonpiper
The Society of Friends Meeting House
Trelissick
The Feock Parish Council
Post war award winning buildings.
Creek Vean House
Pillwood, Pill Creek
Former Inn at Lane End
The St Feock Reading Room
The Old Vicarage, the St Feock Church Hall
The Former Feock School
The Pump and the Well at La Feock
The Old Post Office
Ferris Garage Limited
King Harry Steam Ferry Company Limited
Loe Beach, Cornwall
Loe Beach Water sports Centre
The Truro River Rowing Club and Truro Gig Club
Loe Beach, the future
The 35 page document can be accessed, at
Section 9, Appendix 11
(John Crowther, August 2009)
“Better design, Better places”.
EMMA CORLETT
Western Morning News Thursday January 31 2008.
The South West is lacking architectural ambition and needs to increase its commitment to design quality, according to ‘Better design, Better places”, the first publication to be released by the South West Design Review Panel.
The panel is a partnership between Creating Excellence, the regional centre of excellence for sustainable communities, and The Architecture Centre, Bristol.
Marking the second anniversary of the South West Design Review Panel, the new report brings together the findings from 70 schemes reviewed since its inception.
The 30-strong panel brings together a wealth of expertise in architecture, planning and urban design and is chaired by Peter Clegg, co-founder of Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios of Bath and London, which was recently named Architectural Practice of the Year.
Thinking about the panel’s findings from cases reviewed, Mr Clegg said:
“Our overriding concern is a lack of architectural ambition. We must as a region both understand our heritage and help to create our future heritage. Too many schemes are tamely doing what was done before, what is easy or what seems to be a safe bet.”
The main aim of Better design, Better places is to increase understanding of what makes a well designed development. It includes an essential checklist of ten key points that the South West Design Review panel has identified through its first two years of work and deems critical to the success of projects.
These are:
- Public Realm: think through spaces between buildings.
- Transport: don’t leave strategy to others when every scheme can play a part.
- Precedents: questionable examples will not impress
- Context: show the scheme in its vicinity and community.
- Scale: explain the relationship of the buildings to the surrounding built environment and the human scale.
- Identity: iconic or modest, a building needs a clear identity. -
- Sustainability: it is time for fundamental commitment to the environment, not vague aspiration.
- Materia!s: don’t overdo it, less can be more.
- Robustness: make your scheme future-proof,
- Ambition: be creative, take risks, raise the game.
Talking about the ten points, Mark Pearson, head of design at Creating Excellence, said: This checklist has been compiled as both a practical guide and hopefully an inspiration to all involved with development in the South West,
• The South West Design Review Panel welcomes suggestions ‘of schemes to be reviewed E-mail dip@architecturecentre.co.uk or contact Timothy Cantell manager of the South West Design Review Panel. To download a free copy of “Better design, Better places”, visit www.creatingexcellence.org.uk and click on “design” or for a hard copy contact Mark Pearson on 01823 250821 or email mark.pearson@creatingexcellence.org.uk
The Feock Parish Plan
The Feock Parish Plan 2007, Carnon Downs, Devoran, Point, Penpol, Feock has been published and is available from the Feock Parish Office.
The document is of a high quality of design and content and a credit to those many members of the community who freely gave their time to the project.
I am concerned that "Design and Setting, Historic Areas, Grass Verges, Access to Highways, Pleasant Gardens and Boundries headings, take such a very low priority in the views of residents. This may explain why there is so little concern amongst residents on The Point in respect of the development of the verges, crossovers and the removal of the overhead service cables. (JBC)
Friends of Restronguet Point website awarded,
Website of the Month
http://www.restronguetpoint.co.uk
This website, designed by Creative Edge of Truro, has been given recognition in the September 2006 issue of the magazine Cornwall Today, which has awarded it the title “Website of the Month”:
Determined to protect their beautiful corner of Cornwall this waterside community has taken the step of publishing their wishes for the future of their community on-line. Set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, alongside a tranquil creek branching out from the busier Carrick Roads, you can understand their concern. Residents are hoping the document will be used to assist Carrick District Council make decisions on planning development in the area. You can also get a closer look at the area through nostalgic photos, maps and an events listing.
The website also made news in the July 6 issue of the Truro Packet
Restronguet Point leads the way.
Truro-based design agency Creative Edge was commissioned to design and launch the Friends of Restronguet Point website, publishing one of the only DESIGN STATEMENTs in Cornwall and thought to be among the first in the county to be accessible via the internet
DESIGN STATEMENTs were launched in 1996 as part of the Countryside Agency “Design in the Countryside Initiative”, which was a mechanism to encourage new development to respect the character of its location.
David Rickett, managing director of Creative Edge said: ‘The primary objective of the website is to convey the message of the Village Design Statement. Because the Restronguet Point website is also likely to be picked up by general internet searches, as well as those specifically looking for the DESIGN STATEMENT, we felt it had an important secondary role, that of promoting Restroriguet Point, its natural beauty to people from around the world. Therefore, the design we applied needed to reflect the project’s ethos of good design and complement the area’s dramatic scenery.
One of the Friends’ of Restronguet Points’ original objectives was to encourage good planning policies and as a consequence it prepared the Guidelines for Property Development on Restronguet Point in 2004, before being prompted to draft the DESIGN STATEMENT in the hope that it would be adopted by Carrick District Council.
Derek Reed, Chairman of the Friends, said: “We felt it was essential that the Design Statement was published on the internet in order to communicate with as many people as possible. The project focuses on the regions diversity, its local distinctiveness and the harmony between buildings, settlements and the landscape. DESIGN STATEMENTs are seen as mechanisms to encourage any new development to respect the character of its location, added Mr Reed. They are an opportunity for local people to play a constructive part in enhancing development in their area through encouraging good and sustainable design for future generations.
We are pleased that Cornwall Today and the Truro Packet have given space in their publications to highlight the Restronguet Point website. It is another way residents can remind local, district and county authorities of their views about the development of their environment and the preservation of their heritage”. (Derek Reed, Chair of The Friends of Restronguet Point).
Comments on the DS
Nicholas Johnson MBE. MA. Bsc. FSA. MIFA., 09.08.07
Historic Environment Manager, Environment and Heritage, Cornwall County Council.
“Many thanks for sending me this. I have looked through it with great interest and congratulate you and your colleagues for such a detailed and useful piece of work. The great thing about having it on the web is that periodic changes can be made without the great expenses of reprinting!
The Conservation Area appraisal for Devoran is in progress and many of the issues to do with trees, boundary walls, cobbled surfaces etc are also coming up as they have for the Point. It is so important to keep the historic character of an area whilst at the same time welcoming quality new build and innovative solutions to current problems. We would love to underground the awful wirescape in Devoran.”
Mark Pearson, Head of Design South West. 13.08.2007,
creating:excellence / Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment
I have now had a proper opportunity to have a look at the Design Statement and I realise what an extraordinary piece of work it is – very well done to you and your group! It’s a fantastic collection of information and thoughts. I hope you don’t mind me citing it as an exemplar that others might learn from?
M Utton, New Mexico, USA. 28.07.07
“Tremendous amount of work to produce such a comprehensive, clear, persuasive and erudite exposition of the subject. The production and arrangement is so wonderfully spare and yet encompassing, readily understandable. Surely all the people involved in the production of this and who live in the area will rally to the cause and be a powerful lobby--after all, it's so much to their advantage”.
Ingrid Heseltine, De Facto. 01.08.07
“Congratulations on a wonderful finished product”.
Barry Simpson, Historian, Devoran, 07.08.07.
“Dermot Shire (Chair Restronguet Creek Society) has sent me an email containing the FRP Design Statement for comment. My particular sphere has been the local history of this area.
The Design Statement a comprehensive and beautifully produced document”
(Barry Simpson made several constructive comments, all of which have been incorporated within the Statement, JBC)
The following comments are in response to earlier drafts of the previous DESIGN STATEMENT.
Mr Richard Fish, Director, former CCC Planning, Transportation and Estates,
21 June 2005
Thank you for your letter of 17 April and copy of your draft DESIGN STATEMENT. I found this to be a very professional and well-researched document which I am sure will be of considerable benefit to the Community.
Mr. J. Anthony Dyson, Chairman and Secretary, Planning and Environmental Matters Sub-Committee, Restronguet Creek Society
June 2005
Thank you for sending me a copy of the draft Village Design Statement, a most professional production. I shall pass it onto the other two members of my sub-committee and to Alan Williams, the Society’s Chairman.
Mr Phil Dyke, National Trust Property Manager, East and Mid-Cornwall Office
11 May 2005
In general the document is excellent and a very worthwhile exercise. The focus on working to reduce the number of overhead cables and introduce traffic calming measures are laudable long-term objectives.
Mr Roger Covey, Maritime Conservation Officer, Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Team, English Nature
24 June 2005
The concept of the DESIGN STATEMENT is a welcome step forward in a local community getting involved in the planning process and environmental protection/enhancement. There is much in the document that English Nature supports.
Mr Nicholas Johnson, MBE, CCC Historic Environment Manager, Environment and Heritage
29 June 2005
The document is clearly set out and the historical background is well-researched. There are a number of historical facts that will be very useful to our Historic Environment Record. I have passed it in front of my Cornish Mining World Heritage Site Bid colleagues who note that the proposed World Heritage Site comes downriver as far as Point Quay and the island and does not directly impinge on the village area. When the final version is printed we would welcome a copy so that it can go into the Cornwall Historic Environment Record archive. We can then use it as an exemplar for other villages.
Mr Martin Woodley, then Local Plans Officer, Local Plans Team, COC Community Planning Department
30 June 2005
My comments are based on the second draft version of the Design Statement received towards the end of May 2005. The layout and structure of the document reads and flows well with the initial sections setting the scene in defining the area, its character and special qualities and the current issues.
I am reassured that the issues of sustainable design and construction have been stressed in the document. The submitted draft version reads as an impressive and well-researched document that should have the ability to provide clear and focused guidance for the management of future changes and developments along The Point.
I look forward to receiving a copy of the final version in order for its ultimate status to be determined and established within the Council’s policy guidance.
A further draft version was forwarded in August 2005.
Mr Paul Walton, Cornwall AONB Partnership Manager,
now moved to the National Trust, January 2009.
8 August 2005
Many thanks for sending me the final draft of the Village Design Statement. It has been fascinating to observe how the project has developed from the original discussions.
Overall I think the document has resulted in an extremely useful examination of the historical interest of the area and the identification of some of the development issues that affect the character of the area.
If the documents to be given weight by planning officers and organizations such as funding bodies it is important that residents and local people have the opportunity to comment on the document and shape its content. The views of the residents of The Point will be important and it might be worth keeping a record of all the comments you receive once the document is deposited at the Parish Council.
(Mr Paul Walton was the first to recommend that a DESIGN STATEMENT be written, JBC)
Mr Alan Truan, Clerk and Treasurer, Feock Parish Council
4 January 2006
I am very happy to confirm following our meeting with the Friends, that the VDS will be considered for incorporation in some way into the Parish Plan in due course. This will be a natural process and will, I have no doubt, lead to Supplementary Planning Guidance.
(The Carrick District Council decided not to approve the VDS as a Supplementary Planning Guidance Document. The Design Statement is designed to supplement and read in conjunction with the Feock Parish Plan).
(JBC, August 2007).