Owners to be 'forced' to sell land needed for garden village on edge of Truro
3,550 homes are set to be built at Langarth
Last updated 13th Jun 2022
Cornwall Council will have to force landowners to sell the land needed to build the 3,550-home Langarth Garden Village near Truro.
The council’s Cabinet will next week meet to agree to apply for a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to secure the land needed for the development.
The council is leading the development of the new settlement near Threemilestone which will also see the development of new schools, emergency service stations, employment space, shops, parks and community facilities.
Cornwall Council decided in 2019 to make an intervention for the large scale development at Langarth with £165million of investment which includes £117.5m from its own reserves and borrowing along with £47.5m from the Government.
As well as the Garden Village the council is also leading the development of the Northern Access Road (NAR) which will provide a new route through the proposed settlement linking the western end of the A390 with the eastern side at Treliske.
The development site had previously been earmarked for housing and other facilities through a number of separate planning applications which included supermarkets and other services. However these applications had all stalled and the council decided to intervene as it was concerned about a “patchwork quilt” style of development being created and wanted a more cohesive approach.
The council also wanted to ensure that infrastructure needed to support the new homes would be in place before the housing is complete. As a result it has created a masterplan which sets out guidelines for the development including the design and layout of the garden village.
In a report going to the Cabinet next week the council states that a “significant proportion” of the site has been acquired through negotiation. However it states that there are parts of land needed for the NAR which it has been unable to secure and so it needs to apply for a CPO to acquire the land.
The council says that whilst negotiations have taken place it has not been possible to reach agreement with those covered by the CPO.
It explains that the council has secured 68 per cent of the land needed for housing; both the school sites; and 75 per cent of the land for the NAR. It also has the land needed for the energy centre; the majority of the green space and the land for the park and ride expansion.
The report explains that “the council is confident that it has sufficient funds and authority based on previous decisions to progress, and that through its own arms-length companies, or other procurement routes available to it, the means and expertise to deliver the scheme as conceived”.
If the Cabinet agrees to press ahead with a CPO to resolve the land issues then it will have to be submitted to Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Communities and Housing. The CPO can only be implemented once confirmed by the Secretary of State.
Langarth Garden Village will have 3,550 homes which will include 200 extra care homes and 50 student/health worker accommodation units. There will be around 35 per cent affordable housing across the development with 70 per cent of those being for affordable rent and 30 per cent intermediate housing.
The Cabinet will meet on Wednesday (June15) to decide whether to approve applying for the CPO.