Tregunnel Hill short-to-medium term 'move on' accommodation

Context

The impact of the Covid pandemic, the reduction in the number of privately rented homes (due to increased demand for holiday accommodation), rising rental costs and the recent general property boom have created a “perfect storm” in the local housing market.

The lack of affordable accommodation is affecting all types of households, including working families, couples and singles. Many people are struggling to find somewhere to live, with a sharp increase in the number of single men and women rough sleeping or sleeping in cars and vans.

People can find themselves homeless and in need of housing assistance from the Council for various reasons, such as family or relationship breakdown, people fleeing domestic violence, eviction from a privately rented home (including ‘no fault’ evictions), loss of income/employment, bereavement, significant changes to mental or physical health, or struggling to cope with life outside the armed forces.

This can lead to people having no option (or feeling as though they have no option) but to sleep rough, sleeping in their cars, or making temporary arrangements to ‘sofa surf’.

There are over 650 households either living in temporary or emergency accommodation in Cornwall.

Tackling the current housing crisis is one of Cornwall Council’s top priorities.

We are providing these homes for people in Cornwall who are without the resource to lift themselves out of homelessness and who need our help for the reasons mentioned above.

Cornwall Council is using this site to share key documents and provide information about the proposed scheme.

About the Tregunnel Hill scheme

The aim of the proposed Tregunnel Hill scheme in Newquay is to provide ‘move on’ housing for people to stay in for the short to medium term.

The proposed scheme will deliver 18 ‘SoloHaus’ modular homes around a central landscaped space, with a new footpath connection to Tregunnel Hill. The scheme includes on-site bike and bin storage, CCTV and a small management building for visiting support staff.

Layout plan for Tregunnel Hill ‘Move-on’ scheme

The site will be managed by a specialist housing management provider ie. Cornwall Housing Ltd. The management provider will be responsible for repairs and maintenance of the accommodation and grounds to ensure the site remains an attractive and comfortable space for residents to live.

A support provider will be appointed by us to provide low level visiting support with back-up from a range of agencies, as necessary. These may include Cornwall Housing, specialist support agencies, employment organisations, health care providers, or other charities. Every client will have a plan that identifies the specific areas they may need support with, for example seeking education placements, accessing health care or benefits applications.

Potential residents will have been assessed as having low (or no) support needs. Thus, clients will either already be a good way through their journey to settled housing and require minimal (floating) support; or for clients that don’t need support at all the scheme will provide a home that they can afford.

This proposal will result in a reduction to the size of the car park of about 120 spaces. Since parking pressures are confined to the busy summer period we intend to secure a long-term Park & Ride facility to serve Newquay, which will add capacity into the parking network. Additionally, once the move-on scheme is in place, we will commit to a programme of redesign and maintenance of Tregunnel Car Park to improve the quality of the asset and to help offset car parking loss..

Artist’s impression of cross section from Tregunnel Hill ‘Move-on’ scheme, showing units 1-8, looking north-west

SoloHaus modular housing

SoloHaus units are practical, cost effective to run, and come complete with all the fixtures and fittings that someone might need to live in the property. SoloHaus homes are purpose-designed, contemporary and benefit from low carbon heating provided by communal air source heat pumps. They also include Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery (MVHR) systems which helps keep running costs low. You can find out more about the SoloHaus product here

Next Steps

A planning application for this scheme was submitted for validation on 9 September 2022. This will follow the normal statutory planning process, which includes a period of public consultation and a decision on the application is expected in December 2022. Subject to planning approval, work will begin on site in early 2023, with the first residents moving into their homes in Summer 2023.

You can find out more detailed information about the scheme, including a map of the proposed site, information about the kind of homes being proposed, the people who would live there, and the planning process, in the FAQ's and documents section.

How you can get involved

You can ask questions about the scheme via the questions section below.

*To give your views on the scheme as part of the formal planning process you need to comment via the Council's formal planning processes. You can access the online planning portal here