Mr Simon King

North Cornwall District Council

Community Services

Development Control

3-5 Barn Lane

Bodmin

Cornwall PL31 1LZ

14^th February 2007

Dear Simon

Application 2006/02500 Crugmeer Farm, Padstow

Many thanks for sending me the details of the above planning application. I have set out a number of comments expressing my concerns regarding the proposals which in my view does not further the purpose of the AONB designation. These are detailed below and I trust will be taken into account when determining the application.

Firstly however, I would like to correct the impression created by the applicants in their application that I have given my support to these proposals. The applicants’ claim in para 5.1.1 of their Planning, Design and access statement that I have given support to the design proposals is a misrepresentation of the facts. I was invited to comment on early drafts of the design of the innovation centre, in which I confirmed that the new design of the buildings would have less of an impact upon the settlement than the original proposals. I also advised the architects that I still retained concerns about the development and that the District Council would need to be reassured that the location is an appropriate one for this sort of development, that the proposal can meet sustainable development objectives and that the potential impacts from traffic will not adversely affect the AONB. I would be grateful if you would bring this to the attention of the committee members who will determine the application.

Comments on the proposal

The proposal for the Innovation Centre and the micro-business units raises a number of issues in respect of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which as a nationally designated area, should be given great weight in development control decisions.

Although the proposal is to use redundant farm buildings, no evidence has been offered by the applicants that this is a farm diversification project that contributes to the viability of the specific farm enterprise, (which is supported by national guidance on farm diversification in PPS7). Instead the proposal is presented as a redevelopment project, leading to an innovation facility and “letable micro business units”.

This then leads to the need to assess the proposal against further guidance from PPS7 – namely that support should be given to suitably located and designed development that facilitates the economic and social well being of the AONB and its communities. The design of the buildings is acceptable from the perspective of the AONB but the greater issue is that of the suitability of the location and whether it meets the needs of the AONB community.

The settlement at Crugmeer is very small and will have limited economic needs. The larger communities of Padstow, Wadebridge and Newquay have economic needs but it is questionable whether these will be met by the type of development proposed. The key beneficiaries of the Haven itself are acknowledged in the application to be high earning companies and their representatives from the UK and Europe. The likely occupiers of the micro business units are not identified but will be targeted by the applicants, suggesting that they are unlikely to be local to the immediate area. Consequently the job opportunities likely to be available to local people are most probably on the servicing of the innovation centre – cleaning, administration and reception work. Much of this work is already available in the larger settlements and it does not meet sustainable development objectives to create additional jobs such as these in a remote rural area.

In my view the proposal fails to make a case for locating the development in the AONB in respect of PPS7.

The proposal also fails to meet related policies in the NCDC Local Plan.

Policy ECN4 is to encourage development appropriate to the employment needs of the locality. The commentary to policy ECN4 (para 4.32) recognises that small scale developments are most likely to service the social and economic needs of a rural location. The policy also sets out the approach of attempting to create local job opportunities for people remote rural areas, thereby discouraging car use. The proposals for Crugmeer do not meet these policy aims.

The commentary to Policy ENV1 also provides clear guidance as to why the Haven proposals are not suited to this particular location. Paragraph 5.30 recognises that change will take place “arising from the requirements of agriculture and other rural industries and economic and social needs of local communities”. As outlined above the change is not as a consequence of these factors.

Finally I have concerns regarding the traffic movements to be generated by the development and the highway improvement proposals submitted for the Treator junction.

The likely traffic movements reinforce my view that the location of the site is not appropriate for a development of this nature and the need for improvements to the Treator junction would indicate that the proposals are not in keeping with the AONB designation. The junction marks the boundary of the AONB and provides a significant contrast between the minor road network and the busier sections of the A389, A39 and B3276 in the immediate area. Any work that could dilute the local distinctiveness through insensitive “improvement” would represent an adverse impact upon the amenity and character of the AONB. This is reinforced when consideration is given to the qualities of the area.

Qualities of the area

The qualities of this part of the AONB are identified in the publications A Cornish Landscape – An assessment of the areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Cornwall Countryside Commission 1997 and the Cornwall Landscape Assessment 1994, published by Cornwall County Council. Both documents emphasise the open, agricultural nature of the landscape, with a wild feel identified in the area of Stepper Point. The farming settlements such as Crugmeer are closely associated with Anciently Enclosed Land which denotes farming pattersn of medieval or prehistoric origins. This time depth contributes greatly to the character of the area – an apparently timeless, recognisably old, long established landscape. The adverse impact of tourism development on the character of the area is documented and the possible dilution of the distinctiveness of the area by inappropriate building styles and road improvements highlighted.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I believe that the development proposals for Crugmeer Farm are inappropriate for a nationally designated landscape such as the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The proposals do not further the purpose of the designation, do not meet the economic and social needs of the communities within or close by to the AONB and, through the increase in traffic movements and consequent proposed highway improvements, have the capacity to erode the character and amenity of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Yours sincerely

Paul Walton

Cornwall AONB Partnership Manager

Cc Cllr V Newman