Council office may face bulldozers

A FORMER council office in Wadebridge faces being bulldozed to make way for housing.

Cornwall Council owns the offices which had previously housed the local one stop shop, and the local authority now has a planning application pending to demolish them.

The land could eventually accommodate around 30 new homes.

People living on the street say they were not consulted over whether the offices should be flattened.

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Roderick and Gill Harrison said the first they knew about the impending demolition was when they were told by a council workman that all the buildings would be coming down.

Mr Harrison said: "A few years ago the council prepared a booklet about redeveloping the site into housing but it included retaining the main building and converting it.

"That building is more than 100 years old and is worth retaining. I'm sure most people will think it's just the flat-roof buildings that are coming down, not the whole lot.

"I was told by Wadebridge's town clerk that the town council was not informed about the application to demolish the buildings either, which I is very poor in my view,'' said Mr Harrison.

Cornwall councillor for the area Scott Mann said a decision had yet to be taken to bring the bulldozers in, and there were still plenty of details to be thrashed out.

"If the site is turned over to housing, I would like to see 50 per cent of the development comprise affordable housing, as there is a real need for low-cost homes in Wadebridge but the situation at Trevanion Road is quite complicated,'' said Mr Mann.

"The old flat-roof buildings are not worth retaining but the main old council building is another matter. If the council decides not to knock it down, it is very likely fewer affordable houses could be built there when it is sold to a developer.

"Also, the Wadebridge Conservation Area boundary is likely to be extended to cover Trevanion Road along with Fernleigh Road and Guineaport, which could make developing the site more complicated.''

Mr Mann said the planning application to demolish the complex had yet to be determined, and talks were still going on about the site's future development.