By Rashleigh MacFarlane

Cornwall Council’s ambition to impose its planning blueprint on the future of Hayle appears to have hit a major bump in the road, with several landowners preparing to resist compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) and accusing officials of acting unlawfully.

A recommendation to go ahead with CPOs will come before the council’s cabinet on Tuesday (4^th November.)

CPOs are often controversial and attitudes towards them usually divide on political lines. In 2017 the council was accused of “behaving like a communist regime” when it threatened CPOs at Penryn. The council says it always tries to acquire land by negotiation and agreement.

Some Hayle landowners believe the council is now trying to rush through its own vision of the town’s future before the government’s recently published planning proposals become law. Under the government’s plans, the land in question would almost certainly be “zoned” for development with builders then given a free hand to pursue their own construction ideas and designs.

The sites are to the south of the town, and are needed for County Hall to progress its “Hayle Masterplan” for housing, and improve the Loggans Moor A30 junction. The council is seeking to encourage the construction of 1,600 new homes before 2030.

Now some of the landowners are planning to ask questions of the cabinet portfolio holder, councillor Tim Dwelly, at Tuesday’s meeting.

The questions claim that council officials have already approached landowners about compulsory purchase, which the landowners believe at this stage to be both premature and unlawful because CPOs are supposed to be used only as a last resort. The landowners are also concerned about the scale of the Community Infrastructure Levies which the council is planning to impose on developers.

“In our opinion, it is unlawful practice to set the policy framework,” say the landowners. “Can the portfolio holder for planning confirm that he endorses this unlawful action?

“Why have officers understated the time period for Compulsory Purchase delivery? If the council was to progress its own strategy, does the portfolio holder for planning agree that it would take significantly longer to Compulsory Purchase the land (even if justification exists) and bring development forward when that the Government White Paper for Planning is also likely to supersede this recently adopted policy?

“Does the portfolio holder for planning realise that the recently adopted Masterplan for Hayle (adopted on 19^th Oct 2020) will actually significantly hold up development proposals in the area and will not speed up development, which is the very reason why the government are providing funding for Loggans Moor A30 improvements?”

Page 22 of the Hayle Masterplan outlines how the council will try to levy thousands of pounds from developers for each new dwelling. The landowners believe this prejudices what they say should be open negotiations over values.

But the officers’ report to the cabinet meeting seeks to introduce a note of urgency: “As at March 2020 Hayle had only delivered 506 homes of its 1,600 home target, which is 294 homes short of where is should be at this point in time. Therefore, there needs to be a significant acceleration of housing delivery within Hayle if the Local Plan target is to be achieved.”

rashleighmacfarlane@cornwallreports.co.uk