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The most recent proposals
for the ING development at Hayle Harbour went on display last
week and have already attracted comment on the Hayle Eye forum.
The new artists impressions are said to reflect the
feed back received from the public to the original proposals put forward last
year.
One of the eye-catching
proposals in the proposed new scheme is the plan to construct a sill
with the intention permanently impounding water in Penpol Creek and the mooring of
tall ships. Like many of the ideas proposed this looks good on
paper but the exact means by which it will be achieved are very
sketchy at this stage.
It is not clear for example exactly how
the flow of the Melanear and Penpol streams which currently flow
into Penpol Creek to the sea would be maintained or how large
vessels with a considerable draft would navigate Hayle Bar and
the estuary.
Rumours that the
new harbour proposals would include plans to build 1400
new houses seem to have subsided since, during the
initial phase at least, the number has been put at 870.
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Even so this number represents an
increase of 170 on the 700 homes which were previously announced
and is more than double the 400 in the discredited 'Carutthers
Plan' which was 'called in'.
It seems that the housing will be split between expensive prime
harbour-side and marina-side luxury apartments and a significant
social housing development (200+) which will be built on land
between Clifton Terrace and Riviere Farm.
The new drawings show
tall buildings on all of the quays which are up to four stories
high, and raised to mitigate flooding. This makes some of them
at least as high as the viaduct. For all the talk of creating
vista’s over the water, it would seem that the tall buildings
will obscure the views over the estuary from most of the town. It is also feared by
some that the tall buildings will cast a permanent shadow over Penpol Terrace and there is concern that the corridors between
the tall buildings will create an unwelcome ‘wind tunnel’
effect.
The amount of commercial
and retail space planned is also significant. A total of 350,000
sq ft (or about 8 Acres). Of course all of this new housing and commercial space is expected to result in a
significant amount of additional traffic and vehicle movements.
There is no denying that this will create a huge problem since Hayle essentially has only one road in and out. The road,
already heavily congested in the summer months will reach
failure point. A new bridge is proposed to take traffic over
Copperhouse Pool opposite St Elwyn’s church. The road would need
to cross over the historic Merchant Curnow’s Quay by the Hawkins
Garage site, over the Copperhouse Pool by the existing swing
bridge, and onto North Quay where the swimming pool now stands.
Unconfirmed speculation is rife that
the unacceptable congestion which will arise on Commercial Road
by the traffic turning into and out of the new road will be
alleviated, officially or otherwise, by diverting some traffic either down
the King George V
Memorial Walk, or alternatively, along Clifton Terrace to a new
road serving the social housing estate and out onto Lethlean
Lane.
Apparently the latest
proposals which include a marina were drawn up in anticipation
of a favourable outcome from a hydrological study which is yet
to be completed. Nevertheless, Hayle Eye understands that the
removal of the Cockle Bank is now on the cards again and in
order to keep the desired depth of water in the marina a double
bowl arrangement is proposed with the ongoing, costly and unsustainable daily
removal of sand by digger for return to the beach which would
have to be maintained long after the developer has gone. Not
only does such an arrangement seem commercially and
environmentally suspect, but it also seems to rule out the
re-introduction of sluicing to maintain the channel.
Of course the great
carrot that is being dangled by the proposed development is the promise of employment. ING
are on record as claiming that 1700-2000 jobs will result from
their development proposals but at this time there is only
speculation of where these jobs will come from and who will be
providing them. There has been no announcement of any commitment
by any potential employers to the proposed project and while the
current scheme is said to include plans for a ‘College Centre’
no colleges have committed to the plan either. People need only look at
the controversial Dowren House development on the Harvey’s
Foundry site to see how claims of providing jobs by providing
business accommodation stack up. The out of keeping modernistic
building controversially thrown up as part the the Foundry
scheme it stall substantially empty two years after its
completion.
Despite reassurances that
the development will respect the historic and natural
environment of Hayle and the estuary, a number of residents have
expressed concerns over the unsympathetic nature, siting and
height and density of the proposed buildings. Hayle Eye also
feels that the opportunity to incorporate environmentally
friendly and sustainable features into the building to reflect
the nature of the planned new wave hub electricity generation
has been missed. There is no mention for example of the
incorporation of any energy saving technologies, solar panels,
grey water systems or similar features.
While there seems to be a
lot of work to be done in refining the proposals and developing
a plan before submission to the planning authority, not the least
of which are the publication of in depth environmental and
hydrological reports, ING have described the current proposals
as ‘near-final’ suggesting that they are not about to make any
significant changes.
It is understood that a formal planning
application is expected in Spring 2006. The cost of the plan
which will take up to 10 years to complete is estimated at
around £170m with substantial contributions expected from the
public purse. A start date of 2007/8 has been speculated but
given the scale and nature of the development there must be
quite a high risk of the application being called in for
determination by the Secretary of State and a subsequent lengthy public enquiry.
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