Planning for the Role and Future of Smaller Settlements in Cornwall

Whitemoor (St Dennis, St Stephen) Testing Area Report

Revised

c4g, Roger Tym & Partners, Rural Innovation

December 2009

www.c4g.me.uk www.tymconsult.com www.ruralinnovation.co.uk Contents 1 This research...... 1 1.2 Critical Context - climate change – a new frame for everything...... 2 1.3 A structure for thinking and policy...... 3 2 The Whitemoor Testing Area...... 5 3 Current position...... 8 3.1 Living within environmental limits...... 8 3.2 Ensuring a strong, healthy and just society...... 10 3.3 Achieving a Sustainable Economy...... 14 4 Sustainability state and potential...... 15 4.2 Current State...... 15 4.3 Potential...... 16 5 Workshop Feedback...... 17 1 This research

1.1.1 This study is about the smaller settlements in Cornwall, and will inform the forthcoming Core Strategy of the Local Development Framework (LDF) – the replacement for the Structure Plan and the Local Plans. This, in principle, covers all of the towns other than Camborne/Pool/Redruth, Falmouth-Penryn, and Truro. These are recognised as Strategically Significant Cities and Towns in the Regional Spatial Strategy, which leaves the rest of the Cornish towns and villages to be covered by locally-based policy. 1.1.2 It has been agreed with Cornwall Council that this study will deal with settlements identified as of local significance. This leaves all of the remaining towns and villages with the exception of Newquay, Penzance and St Austell which have been identified as Sub-Regionally Significant Towns. So the study’s reach extends to some of the very smallest villages and hamlets in the county. This is because the majority of the County's population (64%) live outside Camborne/Pool/Redruth, Falmouth-Penryn, Truro and the other larger towns (Newquay, Penzance and St Austell, Bodmin. Saltash and Torpoint). 1.1.3 This work is intended to provide this by examining a range of available data to see what we can find out about the sustainability of smaller settlements, and how new development and other measures might make then more sustainable in future. 1.1.4 Part of this work involves testing areas, of which Whitemoor is one, where data is brought together for the settlements in the testing area, and the testing area as a whole, to provide and assessment of its current sustainability, and to help determine its future sustainability potential. We anticipate that there will not be a 'one size fits all' solution for the Cornish smaller settlements. Conditions vary across the county and policy and decisions will need to take account of this. For this reason the nine testing areas have been picked to be different from one another. 1.1.5 The testing meeting is an opportunity to: • check that the data we have collected is right / makes sense • fill in understanding that the data cannot provide but which local people might be able to • consider together the sustainability potential of the area as a whole and settlements within it • identify any particular opportunities or challenges the settlements or area have 1.1.6 Information from the meeting will be fed back into the main report, which will be finished by the end of November. The report will be taken into account as the Council works from that point forward to put together the LDF. This is a research report to inform Cornwall Council's planning work. The following reflects our analysis, for discussion. It will be for the Council to decide how the discussions and conclusions from this work will be used to develop Council policy and plans.

1 1.2 Critical Context - climate change – a new frame for everything

1.2.1 The Climate Change Act (2008) set the target for a 80% cut in Greenhouse Gasses (GHG) by 2050. More recently (July 2009) we have had the first national GHG budget in support of the Act, contained in the climate change White Paper, The UK Low Carbon Transition Plan, and a suite of supporting strategies (transport, economy) and evidence. 1.2.2 It is very clear from this raft of national policies and programmes that by 2020 the ways in which we harvest and use energy, how our homes and workplaces are supplied with energy, heated and can conserve energy, and our means and patterns of transport will be quite different from those we know today and the trends which have led to then over the preceding years. What is not yet clear is what this will specifically mean for smaller settlements in rural areas – market towns and villages and therefore much of Cornwall. 1.2.3 Part of the job of this research is to start working this out. The LDF period lasts to 2026 – six years after 2020 – which means that this LDF has to be a 'Low Carbon Transition' LDF - moving us firmly towards and era of much reduced GHG emissions, with greater reach than the national strategies. In addition, for planning, the Supplement to Planning Policy Statement 1 - Planning and Climate Change (2007) has already filled in some detail. 1.2.4 The main way in which rural areas and settlements differ from urban ones is in terms of transport use. Rural residents have more cars, use them more often and travel longer distances in them1. This is a 'chicken and egg' issue – the real cost of motoring has been in decline for decades, and continues to do so. Rural settlements have lost services, facilities and employment sites while their populations have grown2. The cheapness of the private car has brought greater mobility to rural households, and changed their behaviour. They are now travelling further to work and to access services. Rural residents have become increasingly dependent on high mobility – but does it have to be this way? The Real Cost of Motoring – Transport Trends 2008

1 National Travel Survey series, DfT 2 State of the Countryside series, CRC

2 1.2.5 However the new national strategies, The UK Low Carbon Transition Plan and Low Carbon Transport: A Greener Future both make it clear that transport emissions need to be reduced (they are currently increasing). This, then, raises stiff challenges for rural areas. Fundamentally, this means that the high levels of personal and other mobility currently characterising rural life will have to be reduced, starting soon and accelerating though the coming decades. So, is this a threat or an opportunity? Rural life has only relatively recently been characterised by high mobility and car-dependence. It is by no means a pre-condition of rural life. The basic sustainability challenge, then, is to maintain and improve the wellbeing of rural communities, and the economies which support them, under new transport conditions where household and businesses can access the things they need without over-reliance on the car and without having to travel too far. This is functional sustainability. Localisation is a term for this. 1.2.6 For this to work it means that smaller settlements, either individually or in groups, will need to contain most of the services, facilities and jobs their populations need, and the low-carbon transport links to join then up. It also means that rural housing markets will need to be more balanced – particularly containing more affordable housing – so that all sorts of people can live close to services, facilities and jobs. 1.2.7 A greater sustainability should strengthen rural communities, not weaken them.

1.3 A structure for thinking and policy

1.3.1 Part of this research project is to think harder about how to deliver greater sustainability to smaller rural settlements. The following is our suggestion for how this might be done. 1.3.2 We have expressed these core issues for planning for smaller settlements in the LDF as a vision and objectives. The vision sets the overall direction. The objectives explain how the vision should be delivered. The vision is set within that of The UK Government Sustainable Development Strategy , which has four leading components: ▪ Living Within Environmental Limits ▪ Ensuring a Strong, Healthy and Just Society ▪ Achieving a Sustainable Economy ▪ Promoting Good Governance . 1.3.3 We have used the first three as governance structures are beyond the direct scope of the LDF. Vision Cornwall's smaller settlements will, either individually or in combination, become functionally sustainable, making their full contribution in the achievement of the national GHG emissions reductions targets, and fostering sustainable communities and economies. Environmental, social and economic localisation are the critical means by which this will be achieved. The objectives are detailed below.

3 Objectives and outcomes for sustainable smaller settlements Objectives Outcomes Full contribution to a 34% cut in Transport Reduced need to travel GHG by 2020 and 80% by 2050 18% reduction in emissions by 2020 Reduced use of private cars Increased walking and cycling Increased public transport use Energy More community / individual renewable energy generation 29% reduction in domestic emissions by CHP schemes Living Within 2020 Energy efficiency / insulation Environmental Limits 14% reduction in workplace emissions by 2020 Maintenance and improvement of local environmental capacity, quality and Landscape management / improvement landscape. Water conservation Management of environmental risks (e.g. flooding) Air quality improvement Flood management Meeting the needs of and Homes Provision of balanced & affordable housing stock providing opportunity for all Meeting the housing needs of all households households – stock and tenure Ensuring a Strong, Promoting well-being Services / Facilities Ensuring local accessibility to a core set of services and Healthy and Just Fostering social cohesion and Access to a core set of services for all facilities (public and private) via low-carbon means Society inclusion households

Fostering strong and stable local Enterprise & Employment Support for land- and environment-based sectors economies to underpin wellbeing Support for enterprise & employment in Provision of broadband and further ICT for and offer opportunity to the sectors and of sizes suited to the Support for the knowledge economy community opportunities and constraints raised by Support for small / micro businesses smaller rural settlements. Provision of premises if needed Live-work Achieving a Local provision of jobs to suit the needs of local households. Sustainable Economy Economic wellbeing Fostering local economic networks to retain income locally. Households able to acquire the housing, Community enterprise. services and goods they need at a cost Support for those employed in low-waged sectors to buy they can afford and which is acceptable goods locally. in environmental and social terms. 2 The Whitemoor Testing Area

2.1.1 The Whitemoor testing area is in the China Clay area in central Cornwall. The area consists of several settlements north of St Austell and around the western edge of the clay area. Whitemoor itself is a small village with the larger villages of St Dennis to the north and St Stephen in Brannel to the south. On the eastern edge is Nanpean and Foxhole. The area to the east of the testing area is part of the proposed St Austell China Clay Community eco town, with overall plans intended to meet high standards of sustainability including low and zero carbon technologies and good public transport. Nanpean (Drinnick) is one of the six sites identified for growth in the eco town proposal. The area extends south to the A390 and includes the villages of Coombe and High Street. 2.1.2 The testing area contains the following settlements: 2001 population Whitemoor Testing Area 9079 St Stephen in Brannel 2203 St Dennis 2158 Nanpean/Foxhole 2209 Whitemoor * Treviscoe 702 Coombe * * these settlements are too small to calculate populations for from Census data.

2.1.3 72% of the population of the testing area live in the three largest settlements. The Whitemoor testing area has been designed to test how smaller settlements in accessible countryside functionally relate to each other and to the nearby urban centre of St Austell. The Clay Country Vision from Imerys and the eco town proposal also explore these issues in the context of the regeneration proposals made for job creation, housing and leisure development, open space, infrastructure development, high levels of sustainability and low carbon living. The work of the Clay Futures project is engaging with local communities to discuss their views on their communities and what the future might look like. Our purpose in selecting the Whitemoor area as a testing area is to explore the functional relationships of the settlements in the testing area and whether their issues and opportunities are transferable experience to other settlements in similar positions (close to urban centres) in Cornwall. 2.1.4 The Whitemoor testing area has been based on a group of Census Output Areas to allow calculations to be made for the area as a whole. It may not be the 'right' area in this respect – it is a starting point and part of our discussions will be to see if it can be improved. 2.1.5 The settlements are relatively large and quite densely populated. The questions we are looking at here include: • how does each settlement operate, which towns do they have functional relationships with? • What is the functional relationship with St Austell?

5 • Might there be a “functional network” between the villages or do they operate entirely independently of one another? • how sustainable are the villages within the testing area on their own? • how does this change if we consider them together? • how will this change by 2026? • how can this be more sustainable by 2026? 2.1.6 These are the sorts of questions the next round of planning, the LDF, has to wrestle with. We would like your help in finding the right answers.

6 Settlements in the Whitemoor testing area (within blue boundary) 3 Current position

3.1 Living within environmental limits

3.1.1 The overriding objective here is a full contribution to the national GHG emissions cuts – 34% by 2020, and 80% by 2050. This means a cut of around 42-44% by 2026 – the end of the plan period for the LDF. The rate of anticipated reduction accelerates from 2020 and holds this trajectory for around a decade. This means that by the end of the plan period the most rapid reductions in GHG emissions should be taking place. Forecast strong growth in population will increase the challenge. 3.1.2 Transport is the headline issue here because it is where the greatest differences in emissions between smaller settlements in rural areas and larger, urban areas exist. It is also the only sector for which emissions are is still growing. 3.1.3 GHG emissions targets are only available as national budgets at the moment – we have not been able to translate them into local targets. We do, though, have district-based figures from the REAP model3 and DEFRA. The REAP figures are end-user, and the DEFRA ones are source (what this means will be explained at the workshop) and we are seeking ways of reconciling the two. Using them as comparators, though, it is clear that despite the rurality of the Cornwall districts, their emissions are comparable with the whole of the South West, and the UK. Cornwall and comparator GHG emissions

2004 (REAP) 2006 (Defra) TCO2e cap-1 Co2 cap-1 Caradon 16.9 7.1 Carrick 16.7 6.8 Kerrier 16.2 6.2 North Cornwall 17.1 10 Penwith 16.4 5.7 Restormel 16.0 9.9 Cornwall 16.5 7.3 SW 16.7 8.1 UK 16.3 8.6

3.1.4 The sectoral-breakdown figures are intriguing (Carrick and North Cornwall are used as the two ends of the Cornwall spectrum). The distribution of domestic fuels is where the greatest differences are found. Private vehicle fuel use is next.

3 Produced by the Stockholm Environmental Institute and used by the Council.

8 REAP sectoral GHG emissions – some comparators

Tco2e cap-1 REAP 2004 Exeter City Plymouth Carrick N Cornwall Electricity, gas & other fuels distribution 1.37 1.47 1.87 2.07 Direct fuel use in the home (not inc. elec.) 1.27 1.27 1.25 1.26 HOUSING TOTAL 3.53 3.64 4.03 4.24 Railway transport 0.08 0.07 0.07 0.07 Road transport 0.18 0.17 0.16 0.15 Private vehicle fuel use (direct fuel use) 1.23 1.19 1.43 1.50 TRANSPORT TOTAL 3.69 3.52 3.92 4.00 FOOD TOTAL 2.70 2.66 2.89 2.93 CONSUMABLES TOTAL 1.96 1.95 2.11 2.16 PRIVATE SERVICES 1.08 1.05 1.11 1.11 PUBLIC SERVICES 2.13 2.13 2.13 2.13 TOTAL 15.61 16.34 16.70 17.09

3.1.5 We have tried to be more locally specific on emissions by adapting the REAP model, using travel to work and car ownership data. The results are indicative rather than absolute. They show that emissions for the testing area as a whole, taking into account commuting distances, are lower than for the former Restormel Borough. However the main settlements in the testing area have lower emissions than for the testing area as a whole, suggesting that those outside the main settlements are traveling further on their journeys to work. Whitemoor testing area REAP emissions

Total co2 per cap Transp. co2 per cap Restormel 11.16 2.38 Testing area 11.07 2.29 St Dennis 10.93 2.15 St Stephen 11.09 2.31 Nanpean/Foxhole 11.00 2.22

3.1.6 Census travel to work data tells us that only 31% of the 3806 journeys to work that started in the testing area also finished in it; over 2600 people leave the area to work every day. At the same time that people left the area for work, some 1040 travelled into the testing area to work. Of those leaving the area to work, a significant proportion (33%) travelled to St Austell and about 7% to each of Truro and Bodmin. 3.1.7 The individual settlements themselves had even lower levels of self containment of journeys to work; for example in Nanpean/Foxhole, only 21% of travel to work journeys stayed within the settlement whilst in Treviscoe this went down to 19.4%.

9 3.1.8 The average journey to work for the testing area was 13.8km, compared with 17.7km for Cornwall. This does vary between the villages e.g. it was as low as 12.6km in St Dennis but up to 16.7km in Treviscoe. However this does seem consistent with significant travelling patterns, for example into St Austell. 3.1.9 The travel to work census data suggests that only 9.5% of people across the testing area worked from home, much lower than the Cornwall average of 13.9%. In terms of means of travel to work, 7% walked or cycled to work (about half the Cornwall average), and 3.5% used the train or bus (same as Cornwall average). 77.2% travelled to work by private car, some 12% more than for Cornwall. 3.1.10 Reductions in domestic and workplace energy use are also national targets. These tend to apply across the board, but the additional costs of distribution of energy to smaller settlements in rural areas raise the obvious issue of whether more of the energy needed in future could be produced more locally, to address this. New development will also need to be of the highest environmental performance, and the performance of existing development will need to be upgraded. 3.1.11 The final dimension is the maintenance and improvement of the local environment. Parts of the area do have, or are linked to, important landscape designations, notably to the north of St Dennis which is part of the Goss Moor National Nature Reserve. The china clay industry has had a fundamental impact on the landscape of the area. The minerals planning process has been very significant in the area in terms of the operation of china clay extraction, tipping and restoration strategies and physical safeguarding of communities. Projects such as the Heathlands Project have invested in re-juvenating the natural landscape. The Clay Country eco town proposal is based on land now surplus to Imerys’s operational requirements.

3.2 Ensuring a strong, healthy and just society

3.2.1 Our objectives are that the LDF needs to support meeting the housing needs of all households through facilitating a balanced and affordable housing stock, and also facilitating access to a core set of services and facilities for households. Meeting the needs of all households in this way gives access to opportunities and encourages communities to be as inclusive and supportive as possible.

Population

3.2.2 The 2001 Census shows the population of the Whitemoor testing area4 as 9079. The population has grown by about 6.8% between 2001 and 2008. The 2000-2001 migration data showed a net in migration of 2.1% of the resident population. 3.2.3 The census data showed that the age profile of the population in the testing area differs to the Cornish average in that there were comparatively more younger people and less elderly people. The population aged 0-19 was 27.2% compared to the Cornwall average of 22.9% whilst the young working age population (20-34) was also higher at 17.4% compared to 15.6% in Cornwall. The older working age population (50 – 64) however was below average (18.2% compared to 21.3% in Cornwall) whilst those aged 65+ were also lower (at 15.8% compared to 20.1% in Cornwall). 3.2.4 The younger age profile was reflected in the age profiles of the settlements where St Dennis had a particularly high proportion of children aged 0-9 (30.5%) and Treviscoe a high proportion of people aged 20-34 (22.9%). 4 As defined by Census Output Areas

10 3.2.5 The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD 2007) shows that the testing area is in the 40% most deprived areas in England, and is particularly poor in relation to the housing & services and the environment domains, where it is in the worst 20%. This points to high prices and difficulties in accessing services and potentially also issues with housing quality (which is covered by the living environment domain alongside air quality and road traffic accidents). The area also performs relatively poorly in relation to the education domain which includes school attainment and low/no qualifications in adults. Census data indicates that the proportion of adults with no qualifications is much higher in the testing area than for Cornwall as a whole.

Housing

3.2.6 There were 3752 households with residents in the Whitemoor testing area (2001) together with a further 98 vacant household spaces and 31 second/holiday homes. The housing stock in the Whitemoor testing area had more semi detached houses than in Cornwall in 2001 (28.8% compared to 24.3%). It had far fewer flats than the Cornish average (3.9% compared to 12%). Terraced housing stock was broadly the same as the Cornwall average whilst detached was slightly less than for Cornwall (3% less). However there were considerably more residents in temporary accommodation eg caravans than the Cornwall average (4.4% compared to 1.6%). 3.2.7 72.4% of all housing in the Whitemoor area was owner occupied in 2001, of which 35.6% was owned outright without a mortgage. Of the rented stock, Council housing accounted for a further 3.7%, Housing Association or other social rented at 7.5% and 15.5% privately rented or rented from other sources. St Dennis had higher levels of Council housing (7%) whereas Treviscoe had quite limited levels of social housing. St Stephen had higher levels of home ownership. 3.2.8 House sales price data for the Whitemoor area (2008) shows that average house prices are within the lower price ranges for Cornwall – at their lowest in St Dennis and only just moving up into higher price ranges in the very south west edge of the testing area. 3.2.9 Current Council housing waiting list information for the Whitemoor area suggests a total of around 350 registered on the list of which 44% are seeking 1 bedroomed housing and 36% two bedroomed housing. This emphasises the need for family accommodation and links with the age profile of the area.

11 Whitemoor testing area average house prices (2008) Services and Facilities

3.2.10 Data on services and facilities has been sourced by Cornwall Council for 2009. The following table sets out what is listed as available: Whitemoor testing area services / facilities R P c p S ( L S s F d H P E i l o n e l e i u o h r d e u e a n i c c i n c o m b u s b a c s a i l t i e t / p c u e u l a i n a C t a p s a s t h s d r l c u i r r t e a e t

i s y e f e i r n ( – a

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St Dennis 3 8 3 6 2 2 1 St Stephen 3 6 6 2 1 1 2 Nanpean 2 4 1 1 1 0 1 Treviscoe 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 Foxhole 1 3 1 2 1 1 1

3.2.11 The information on services and facilities suggests that the main villages of St Stephen and St Dennis are quite well served. Nanpean and Foxhole separately have less facilities each, whilst Treviscoe has only very limited facilities. No information is given for Coombe. 3.2.12 The average number of cars per household in the testing area is 1.2, the same as for Cornwall. There are slight differences across the testing area in that St Dennis and Nanpean/Foxhole have slightly lower levels at 1.1 whereas St Stephen and Treviscoe are slightly higher at 1.3. 3.2.13 The Accession system, used by the Council, gives journey times by a variety of means to a range of location types from individual settlements. For this work we used it to give public transport journey times to five common services: • GP or Health Centre • Primary School • Secondary School • Leisure • Supermarket.

13 3.2.14 Information from the Council’s accession database shows that the villages in the north of the testing area look towards Roche for their GP surgery whilst in the south it is either Brannel Surgery in St Stephen or in St Austell (for Coombe, the longest journey at 31 minutes by public transport). Coombe also has the longest journey time by public transport to a primary school (at 31 minutes) with Brannel secondary school being the named school for villages in the testing area, about 32 minutes travel time by public transport from St Dennis. St Austell is given as the nearest Leisure Centre by public transport to the testing area for most villages, with the exception of St Dennis which is given as Newquay. Roche is listed as the nearest supermarket accessible by public transport for most villages in the testing area with the exception of St Dennis which is given as Indian Queens. 3.2.15 The data does not take account of the frequency or time of day of services, though, and these are also critical issues.

3.3 Achieving a Sustainable Economy

3.3.1 Our objective is that the LDF should provide a policy context which will enable a strong and stable local economy. This means that within the villages and settlements of the testing area there will be sufficient opportunities to find work that will pay a decent living wage, to set up and grow a profitable business, to attract investment and staff with appropriate skills. The local economy should also offer residents opportunities to meet their needs for goods and services at prices they can afford. 3.3.2 So how far from doing this is the local economy now? The analysis below is based on data provided by the Council. It relates to the area shown on the map earlier in the report. The commentary below relates to economic activity across the whole area.

Whitemoor Economic Area

3.3.3 The proportion of people economically active in the Whitemoor area is 63.1%, the same as the Cornwall average of 63%. The area hosts in the region of 1780 employee jobs (ABI 2007), a figure which has decreased by about 13% since 2003. 3.3.4 The area has around 211 recorded “workplace units” (ABI 2007); of which around 64% are occupied by “micro-businesses” with between 1 and 4 employees. The number of workplace units has decreased by about 5% since 2003. 3.3.5 Mining and quarrying together with distribution, hotels & restaurants (all as one group) are dominant sectors in the local economy. The former accounted for about 27% of employment and the latter about 20.5% (ABI 2007). A further 19% of employment is public administration education and health. Employment in agriculture and fishing is negligible but is likely to be under represented in the ABI data. 3.3.6 A small proportion of the workforce is self employed – data from census 2001 showed that only 14% of people working were self-employed, 77% full time and 23% part time. Part-time and full time employee working also had a similar profile; the same data recorded about 27% employees as working part time and 73% full time. 3.3.7 The 2001 Census recorded 3624 people in employment living in the testing area. Of these 3.9% were employed in agriculture. Key employment sectors were 11.8% in mining and quarrying (within the energy and water sector); 13.4% in manufacturing; 9.4% in construction; 20.2% in public administration, health and education; and 26.7% in distribution, hotels and restaurants.

14 3.3.8 A significant proportion of local residents had no qualifications; census data showed that 39% had no qualifications compared with 29% across Cornwall. Those qualified to Level 1 exceeded the Cornwall averages whilst there were less qualified to Levels 3 and 4. 3.3.9 Analysis of claimant data shows that, of those claiming between May 2008 and February 2009, the majority are claiming “social” rather than unemployment benefits. Nearly 14% of claimants (13.8%) were claiming job seekers allowance, others were claiming for incapacity (50%), lone parent (10%) and carer support (13.3%). 3.3.10 The overall impression given by the data is of a local economy based around employment in manual work and in service sector work (public administration and retail) either within the testing area itself or through travelling out to work. Whilst these employment sectors may require different level of skills, they are not as qualification based. The area is also more employee dominated with low levels of self employed people compared to Cornwall generally.

4 Sustainability state and potential

4.1.1 The data we have collected is reasonably exhaustive, and contains many data sets which are as up to date as it is possible to make them. As ever we also have to rely on the 2001 Census for much of the detailed data we need. It is dating, of course, and the critical question is 'what has changed since 2001? 4.1.2 The data cannot give a full picture however. Local knowledge about the area will add things that available data cannot, such as patterns of local shopping and service use, the quality of local buses, the effects of a highly mobile workforce, and the nature and strength of social networks in different settlements to name a few. Recent community consultation work by the Clay Futures Project may also add to the picture. Part of the purpose of the workshop is to consider the data and also to add to it.

4.2 Current State

4.2.1 This is our summary of the current state of the testing area. Is it right? What can you add to it? 4.2.2 The picture offered by the data is one of a younger working population population reliant on some employment sectors which are not likely to be high earning, although some (public administration for example) will be aligned to national pay structures. There is a strong youth presence in the area continuing through into young working age adults which gives the area a stronger balance in its population age structure than other testing areas. 4.2.3 However housing waiting list information and the Index of Multiple Deprivation information suggest a significant level of housing need with people finding it difficult to access housing; potentially lower earnings meaning that even the lower house prices in the area remain difficult for residents to financially reach. 4.2.4 The testing area does have a number of residents who are travelling out of the area to work in St Austell, also Truro, Bodmin, Newquay and further afield. Analysis of workplace employment by sector and resident employment by sector suggests that those travelling out might be more engaged in manufacturing and construction. Other sectors are important both within and beyond the testing area suggesting people are travelling out to access the same types of jobs that also exist within the testing area.

15 4.2.5 Some of the jobs in the testing area are filled by people travelling into the testing area to work, raising the question of whether this is linked to housing affordability issues or simply reflects a highly mobile workforce, particularly if employed in manual trades where the location of work will move around. 4.2.6 The local economy has decreased in terms of numbers of jobs and workplace units. There has been restructuring in Imerys for example, as one of the major employers in the area. It would be valuable to discuss the balance of employment between employee and self employment; and what type of businesses people working from home might be engaged in. 4.2.7 Villages such as St Dennis and St Stephen do have a broad range of services available. It would be valuable to know more about the functional relationships between the villages and the extent to which they look to St Austell (or elsewhere) for services.

4.3 Potential

4.3.1 This final section is where we lay out what we think could be done to deliver the sustainability of the testing area and the individual settlements in it through to 2026. Do you think that these are the right steps? How should they be delivered? 4.3.2 Given the reductions in job opportunities in the local economy in recent years, and also that the significant levels of out and in commuting to the area, there is a need to look at expanding local job opportunities (in order to reduce the potential for out commuting): • To what extent is this possible? • What sort of employment is needed and where? • What do we know about the patterns of in-commuting and their potential links with the need for affordable housing? • Where does the housing need to go help villages maintain their population profiles and jobs • What are the potential links with jobs driven growth in the Clay Country eco zone? 4.3.3 There are a range of services across the villages in the testing area which, collectively, do provide a range of important services and facilities for everyday needs even if individually a settlement may not have all of them. This gives the villages the potential to collectively work together to make best use of what is available. However travel arrangements between villages would need to be reviewed to ensure that use of low carbon travel modes between villages is increased: • How functionally self sufficient can villages become in terms of services? • To what extent does the key urban area of St Austell impact on/have relevance for services and facilities? • Can the villages work in clusters or networks? • What are the ways in which transport between the villages and the urban centre can be made more low carbon (a number of ideas are already put forward in the Clay Country eco town proposal)?

16 5 Workshop Feedback

5.1.1 There was a general understanding of the sustainability issues being discussed with the information in the profile prompting discussion including: • That the housing waiting list is likely to be inaccurate (and overstated) • Some consensus that affordable housing is not such a big issue as employment opportunities • An issue of what is really affordable, a concern about need for ‘move on’ accommodation and a view that younger people are not so interested in house purchase and are more happy to rent • Shift working making use of public transport for journeys to work difficult; whilst other policies may also contribute to traffic generation; e.g. college bus passes as young people learn to drive as soon as possible in order to avoid the college bus system • Population structure and social mix leading to a lack of community leaders 5.1.2 The transport system was identified as vital if villages are to work together more with discussion around the transport alternatives, if/how incentives might be needed to achieve changes in transport use and the potential arising from the eco zone discussions around increasing public transport services. 5.1.3 There was considerable emphasis on the need for development of local jobs, with discussion around the opportunities of live/work developments; the need for business support for small business start ups; that expanding existing industrial estates in towns will continue to generate traffic to them; and whether new workspace could be located between villages as a shared resource. The move towards more knowledge based jobs which may require less/no travelling raised the question of whether people working in this sector would want to live in the china clay area, leading to discussion about the need to create a more positive image of the area and address its environmental quality (and capitalise on attention being generated through the eco town proposal). 5.1.4 In terms of services, the influence of St Austell was mainly discussed in relation to shopping (and the supermarkets in particular), with local shops being the ‘top up’, not the main shop. The opportunity for more local services, potentially shared across villages, was recognised if the transport system supports this. Conversely lack of services was thought to be driving out retired people, with the people moving in being less involved with the local community and more focused on their immediate family. Having a community focus which brings people together is therefore important and something each community should have, be it a meeting place or even some open space. Discussion also focused on the need for services/facilities for young people and that young people need to be part of the discussion about future sustainability questions as they will be the adults over the LDF time period. 5.1.5 Finally discussion noted the importance of having the necessary infrastructure in place before development starts (generally meaning transport) and that the area around the eco zone (such as the Whitemoor area) needs to be planned in conjunction with and not separately to the eco zone proposals.

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