Helston & Lizard Place Based Issues Paper February 2011 Contents CORNWALL LDF: CORE STRATEGY PLACE-BASED ISSUES PAPER: HELSTON AND THE LIZARD COMMUNITY NETWORK 1 AREA Summary 1 Purpose of paper 1 Helston & The Lizard Community Network Area 2 Key Facts 3 Introduction 4 Housing 5 Local Economy 7 Retail and Town Centres 9 Transport and Accessibility 11 Community facilities 12 People 15 Environment 17 Coast 20 Summary and Key Spatial Issues 22 Appendix A: Community Planning Area Visions / Key Objectives 22 Appendix B: Landscape Character information from the 2007 26 Cornwall Landscape Character Assessment February 2011 Helston & Lizard Place Based Issues Paper Contents Helston & Lizard Place Based Issues Paper February 2011 1 Cornwall LDF: Core Strategy Place-based Issues Paper: Helston and The Lizard Community Network Area Cornwall LDF: Core Strategy Place-based Issues Paper: Helston and The Lizard Community Network Area Summary Table .1 This paper summarises the key emerging issues for the Helston & The Lizard Community Network Area brought together to inform the Cornwall Core Strategy. The key issues: Issue 1 – Address high house prices, lack of affordable housing and lack of elderly & special needs accommodation. Issue 2 – Reduce rural isolation, particularly in the remote villages and hamlets; lack of regular public transport to access services, work and education. Issue 3 – Enable the provision of rural workspace and encourage business mentoring & support. Issue 4 – Ensure development is sensitive to the outstanding natural, built and historic environment of the area. Issue 5 – Encourage improvements to community services, health care and education provision and enhance current levels of provision where possible. Consideration should also be given to mobile services. Issue 6 – Boost access to recreational opportunities for young people. Issue 7 – High dependence on Helston as the main retail and service centre serving the many small rural communities across the area. Purpose of paper This is one of a series of papers whose main purpose is to identify the key issues for a specific area of Cornwall. There are nineteen Community Network Areas in Cornwall, based on groupings of parishes as shown on the map below. Community Network Areas were introduced to give communities a stronger voice in helping them deal with complex issues. In this they offer a valuable conduit through which proposed Core Strategy area policies can be refined to reflect local issues through engagement, policy formulation, delivery and local ownership. Further information on Community Network Areas can be found at http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=12439. The various issues have been identified from a variety of sources including plans and proposals of other organisations. Parish Plans have been very useful in identifying issues, and a summary of the ‘visions’ for each of the Parish Plans undertaken in the Helston & The Lizard Community Network Area is included in Appendix 1. These place-based papers, along with the topic-based 2 February 2011 Helston & Lizard Place Based Issues Paper Cornwall LDF: Core Strategy Place-based Issues Paper: Helston and The Lizard Community Network Area Issues Papers, will form the first stage of the development of options for the Core Strategy. A full list of the Core Strategy Issues Papers accessed on the Council’s website http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=22887. Helston & The Lizard Community Network Area Description: The Helston & The Lizard Community Network Area Area is a wide geographical area covering a total of 18 Parishes in the former Kerrier District. The area effectively comprises two distinct geographical and cultural areas, the Helston and central Kerrier area and the Lizard peninsula. The area contains a range of settlements as indicated on the map below. Helston is the main town within this area, and therefore acts as the local service centre to the numerous smaller settlements surrounding it. The only other town in the area is Porthleven, whilst larger villages include Mullion, Praze-an-Beeble, St. Keverne and The Lizard. Smaller villages in the area include Ashton, Breage, Cadgwith, Carleen, Coverack, Cury, Germoe, Godolphin Cross, Gweek, Leedstown, Manaccan, Mawgan & Garras, Nancegollan, Porkellis, Porthallow, Praa Sands, Ruan Minor, Sithney, Townshend and Wendron. Links with other areas: The area has employment related links with the neighbouring towns of Falmouth, Penzance, Camborne and Redruth, with outbound peak traffic flows higher than inbound flows in general. The area is also somewhat divorced from the main transport network – the A30 and the mainline railway. This means that any external travel destinations tend to be accessed via other main towns in the area; i.e. Redruth or Camborne for the nearest railway stations; Helston & Lizard Place Based Issues Paper February 2011 3 Cornwall LDF: Core Strategy Place-based Issues Paper: Helston and The Lizard Community Network Area Camborne, Pool or Redruth for access to the A30. The north - south road links between Redruth and Camborne to Helston are particularly poor; whilst road links from Helston to Penzance in the west and Falmouth in the east are better. The Lizard communities are particularly remote which causes high dependence on the private car for access to most services. Helston & the Lizard Community Network Area - Background Map employment links to Camborne/ Pool/Illogan/Redruth road links to Falmouth & rest of Cornwall/UK road and employment links Leedstown to west Cornwall employment 4 links to Truro/Falmouth 9 3 A A39 employment 4 links to Penzance Helston Porthleven Manacaan Cury St Keverne Mullion A 3 0 8 Key 3 Ruan Minor World Heritage Site AONB Flood Zone 2+3 Lizard Road Link 0 1 2 4 Km N © Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Cornwall Council, 100049047, 2010 Key Facts Key facts about the Helston & The Lizard Community Network Area include the following (follow http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=20177 for the latest version of the Helston & The Lizard Community Network Profile which gives more information): PARISHES: Breage, Crowan, Cury, Germoe, Grade-Ruan, Gunwalloe, Gweek, Helston, Landewednack, Manaccan, Mawgan-in-Meneage, Mullion, Porthleven, Sithney, St Anthony-in-Meneage, St Keverne, St Martin-in-Meneage and Wendron. POPULATION: The total population of the Helston and the Lizard Community Network Area was 32,500 in 2007. There are a higher number of young families in the area than on average in Cornwall. HOUSING: There were 14,251 dwellings in March 2010 within the network area - 1,203 of which were constructed in the period 2001-2010. As of March 2010 the total number of dwellings included 853 second homes and 276 empty homes. In addition there were 315 dwellings under construction 4 February 2011 Helston & Lizard Place Based Issues Paper Cornwall LDF: Core Strategy Place-based Issues Paper: Helston and The Lizard Community Network Area and a further 247 permitted dwellings where work has not commenced; when completed these dwellings will be counted towards the overall growth total. The average house prices on the Lizard peninsula are amongst the highest in Cornwall and lack of affordable housing is exacerbated by the prevalence of second homes and holiday homes. The number of affordable houses needed each year for the next 10 years in the Helston and The Lizard CNA to meet the backlog is 75 (approx. net annual need). Much of the housing consists of low density detached dwellings in the villages and coastal areas. EMPLOYMENT: RNAS Culdrose employs over 3,000 people and is the largest single site employer in Cornwall. Other notable employment sectors in the area are in education, retail, property services and independent businesses. Unemployment levels in the area are 10.6%, compared to the Cornwall average of 12%, but there are pockets of deprivation and a lack of employment opportunities in the area, especially for young people. TRAVEL: The Community Network Area is isolated from the main transport network, being removed from the A30 trunk road and the mainline railway route. Both roads from Camborne and Redruth to Helston are poor and public transport links between these centres could be improved. The Lizard communities are particularly remote and public transport services are not as frequent as desired by the local community. FACILITIES: Helston offers a wide range of services and facilities, from banks and supermarkets to doctors and dentist surgeries, community hospital, secondary school (with 6th form provision), sports centre and a library. Mullion acts as a local service centre for The Lizard communities and provides secondary schooling; whilst a number of other villages contain a range of facilities. Introduction The following tables provide the link between the ‘Topic Based Issues Papers’ and the ‘Place Based Issues Papers’. Each table explores the evidence relating to this Community Network Area against the main themes from a policy and community viewpoint, and concludes by identifying specific issues. Housing Cornwall Table .2 Housing: This table will explore the evidence relating to housing – future growth, balance in the housing stock, tenure mix, quality, deprivation, second homes, in-migration, affordability and housing need. Evidence that highlights specific issues for this area will LDF: be identified under ‘Issues for Consideration’ and in the summary box at the end of the table – evidence that shows no difference between this area and the average for Cornwall will not. Core Evidence & Policy Context Community View(1) Issues for Consideration The draft Regional Spatial Strategy directed 14,400 new Need for affordable housing, Development growth in the Strategy dwellings to the former Kerrier district, of which 11,900 particularly to rent. villages to help sustain local should be in the urban areas of Camborne, Pool, Need for starter homes, services and facilities. Redruth and Penryn, leaving 2,500 dwellings for the particularly near to Affordable housing to meet remainder of the former district. However with the employment centres and local needs, particularly to abolition of the RSS by the current government, housing amenities.