Below is the text of the letter I sent to members of Cornwall Council's Strategic Planning Committee on 21st August:
Dear Strategic Planning Committee Member,
Planning Application PA14/12161: Higher Trewhiddle Farm, St Austell, PL25 5DA
You will be considering the above application at your meeting on 27th August 2015. As the MP for St Austell and Newquay, I am writing to you to set out both the views of local people as they have been explained to me, and my own views.
Local public opinion
The vast majority of local people have a very strong desire for an improved retail provision in St Austell. I cannot emphasise enough how strong this desire is.
During the election campaign I knocked on literally thousands of doors in the St Austell Bay area. The overwhelming need for better shopping opportunities in the area was the number one issue that was raised on the doorsteps.
Since the election over 200 people have contacted me, in just a few weeks, expressing their support for this the Higher Trewhiddle Farm application. Many have specifically asked me to contact you as committee members to make you aware of their support. In that time only one local resident has contacted me to say that they do not support this application.
While some members of the general public may not express their views in terms of planning policy, their desire for an improvement to the town is clear.
Strategic vision for St Austell
I believe that it is time for fresh thinking to solve the issues that St Austell faces.
Let us work to build the town centre back into a place where people congregate, socialise, eat and drink, and visit small specialist shops. Certain towns in the UK have successfully implemented this model.
We also have to recognise that the large retailers now demand bigger retail units with access to large spaces for car parking. St Austell town centre cannot offer this.
Major retailers have made it clear that they want to come to St Austell, but do not consider the town centre is able to provide the facilities they require. We have had recent experience of retailers considering the town and deciding to go elsewhere.
Most people I talk to are of the view that progress will only now be achieved by the development of an out-of-town shopping centre, as the town centre has failed to deliver large retailers for too long.
The future for St Austell is a vibrant town centre focusing on people and activities, supported by out-of-town retail facilities.
Recent planning decisions for St Austell
Whilst every planning application has to rightly be considered on its own merits it is also impossible in this case to completely separate this application from the recent planning history of St Austell.
The people of St Austell were disappointed when the Coyte Farm retail development application was refused in 2014. At that time the chairman of your committee stated that St Austell would have other opportunities for retail development in the future.
I believe that this is that opportunity.
Indeed, I am genuinely concerned that this is St Austell’s last chance to see retail development, certainly for many years to come. Refusal of this application would be a message to potential developers that St Austell is closed for business. New investment could be stifled for a generation.
Planning issues
I recognise that you will need to make your decision on whether or not to vote to approve or refuse this application based on the information you are presented with in the reports. I offer the observations below that I trust will be helpful in coming to your decision.
Sequential development
The Higher Trewhiddle Farm site was seen as sequentially preferable to the previous Coyte Farm application in 2014 and was in fact presented as an alternative scheme at that time.
So, in terms of phased development in line with planning principles, the Higher Trewhiddle Scheme offers the next logical step for St Austell. Please allow us to take this step.
Threat to St Austell town centre
Much is made of the threat that this application presents to the town centre.
I see this scheme as an opportunity for St Austell to grow its retail offering and attract more shoppers; in effect increasing the overall retail pie for all retailers in the area to share.
My belief is that the town will benefit from additional footfall should this development go ahead. Again on the doorsteps, I hear many stories of how people do not bother to go into St Austell, and instead head off to Plymouth or Truro or even farther afield. St Austell people want to shop in St Austell.
The argument that St Austell town centre will be negatively impacted is one based on protecting a small retail spend; let us rather increase the total spend for the benefit of all.
St Austell is the largest town in Cornwall by population, yet the retailers in the area do not enjoy the retail spend of this population.
This is further supported by feedback from existing town centre retailers, who have made it known that they see an appropriate out of town retail development as supportive of the town and not the major threat some suggest it would be.
There appear to be no other deliverable alternatives for significant retail development. Those that were promoting Old Vicarage Place in the town centre have now made clear that it will not be redeveloped and new leases for the current units are already being negotiated.
Higher Trewhiddle Farm Scheme
We have in front of us an application that will provide jobs, retail facilities, improvements to the local school and the building of a new road. We should embrace a scheme that seeks to address the challenges that St Austell faces, whilst also adding to community facilities.
In recent decades St Austell has seen the construction of thousands of houses, without the corresponding investment in the local economy and infrastructure. This scheme seeks to begin to redress that imbalance.
There is a clear need for additional housing as identified in the Draft Local Plan. When the people of St Austell were consulted as part of the Town Framework, over 90% stated that the Trewhiddle Farm site was their preferred option for future housing. So, let us start there. Let us move the area forward.
Jobs are desperately needed in St Austell and the Higher Trewhiddle Farm Scheme will provide jobs both during the development phase, and thereafter.
The developers are local people, passionate about this part of Cornwall and with a track record of delivery. They are here for the long run and are committed to its success.
Conclusion
I believe it is important to the future development and prosperity of St Austell that this application is approved and the development delivered.
Please take the opportunity that is being presented by the Higher Trewhiddle Farm Scheme. Your planning officers have recommended this application for approval, subject to certain conditions. I trust that you will feel able to support their recommendation and vote to approve this application.
Yours sincerely
Steve Double MP