PLANS have been submitted for over 60 new homes near Truro city centre.

If approved, the properties would be built on land formerly used by Cornwall Council near the city’s railway station and Sainsbury’s store.

Treveth – the local authority’s building company offshoot – wants to build 63 houses on land behind Old County Hall off Treyew Road, on a 1.3 hectare site which includes Truro fire station.

A planning statement said: “This application will be for the site area to the east of the spine road which runs through the site (excluding the fire station) and, following a request from Bosvigo School, will include landscape improvements to Donkey Field. The remaining areas of the site will be delivered in a number of future phases – and as such we will be submitting an outline planning application for these areas.”

The plans include details of Phase 5 of the development demonstrating “future-proof master planning and how housing could be delivered in a joined-up way with the wider scheme, should the fire station ever choose to relocate from its current location.

However, should the fire station continue to operate from its existing location, Phases 1-4 of the development are designed to be delivered and occupied around it, taking into consideration its operational impact on future occupants as well.”

A map showing where the proposed development would be built (Pic: Treveth / GSA).
A map showing where the proposed development would be built (Treveth / GSA)

The proposed site was formerly largely occupied by Cornwall Council as an extended campus of Old County Hall. Some buildings, such as the records office and adoption agency, are still situated on site but are due to be vacated by October.

The main access to the site is from Treyew Road and there are also currently two accesses for vehicles and pedestrians via Wheal Golden Drive and Avondale Road. The latter is currently gated off to vehicles and serves as a pedestrian-only access into the site.

Wheal Golden Drive is an unadopted road and is currently in a poor condition. There are two pedestrian accesses into the Donkey Field – one from Chapel Hill and one from Crescent Rise.

The application includes retaining and resurfacing the existing spine road. High quality mature trees will be retained within landscaped green spaces, maintaining the landscaped ‘campus’ character of the existing site.

The proposals would also provide the following:

  • A range of housing types that cater for different needs, from traditional family houses with back gardens, to more contemporary mews houses with a compact footprint and courtyard amenity as well as one and two bedroom apartments. A mix of two, three and four bedroom houses are planned.
  • Create attractive routes for pedestrians and cyclists to encourage active travel.
  • Create a series of green spaces and shared amenity to foster a sense of community.
  • Provision of a gateway feature apartment building at the entrance from Treyew Road.
  • A broad range of different dwellings will be provided on the site to cater for a wide range of potential occupants and respond to local housing needs.
  • A suitable level of parking is proposed, meeting the minimum/expected car parking standards with each home having a minimum of one car parking space and a minimum of one cycle storage space per bedroom.

For more information see planning application PA25/02194 - planning.cornwall.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=STDMRVFGKTF00&activeTab=summary