Construction of Langarth’s Northern Access Road (NAR) is on schedule and on budget, expected to be complete by the end of 2025. 

The NAR, which will be named Fordh Langarth when complete, is the major spine road running west to east through Langarth Garden Village, providing access to the development plots and a route from the A390 through Langarth to the Royal Cornwall Hospital.

It is the first element of the village to be constructed, providing key infrastructure in the form of a village centre with a range of community facilities, including education, health, sport and leisure, convenience stores and a business suite.

The road will have a 20mph speed limit to provide a safer environment, maximise sustainable transport and create an urban feel. A cycle lane will run on the north side between the West Langarth Junction and the Royal Cornwall Hospital, and there will be five pairs of bus stops at key locations, with new bus services provided from the first home occupation.    

“We said at the start of the Garden Village project that we were going to create a community rather than just providing housing at Langarth,” said Olly Monk, Cornwall Council portfolio holder for housing and planning.

“This means delivering key infrastructure in the early stages of the scheme. This road opens up the whole site, providing access for the development of the village centres and community facilities as well as the new homes from day one.”

Preliminary design work for the scheme began in 2019, and construction work began in March 2023. The first phase runs between the new West Langarth roundabout on the A390 to the Threemilestone park and ride, and delivering it has been a major civil engineering project.

The significant challenge of constructing a road across a valley has resulted in excavating, storing and re-using 120,000 m3 of material across the site. 

Among the 100 people involved in the construction are resident ecologists working to protect the impact of the works on wildlife and increase biodiversity. The site also has three apprentices in conjunction with Truro & Penwith College.

Funded by Homes England, and designed and constructed by CORMAC, the £47.5m project is being delivered in phases running west to east. 

Formal access for the construction of Phase 2, from Threemilestone to the hospital, was granted in January 2024, enabling work to start in April 2024.

Work on constructing the first houses at West Langarth is expected to begin in 2026, with the first people moving in at the beginning of 2027. Construction of the primary school will also begin in 2026, currently due to open in September 2027 when the first 200 homes have been occupied.