Restormel offices could be sold to Sainsbury's
THE OLD Restormel Borough Council offices in St Austell could be sold off to make way for a supermarket.
Informal discussions are under way between Sainsbury's and Cornwall Council for the building of a store on the former council site on Penwinnick Road.
The news has outraged some of the council's former employees who do not want to see Cornwall's assets sold off.
Former mayor of Restormel, Cllr Pat Harvey, said: "I'm appalled by this and think that this shows just how much trouble the new council is in.
"They are selling off all the assets to fill the gaps left by huge debts.
"There are going to be some harsh decisions made in the future, which isn't comforting when you hear news like this. The question is, what next?
"What worries me the most is where are all the staff in the building, who work for the council, going to work from? It's beyond belief."
Employees of the new council currently work in the building.
It is also a One-Stop Shop for the St Austell area and will be the offices of the new town council after the elections on June 4.
Cornwall Council could make huge amounts of money from selling a number of former district offices around the county.
Sainsbury's is understood to be targeting the Wadebridge offices, as well as discussing the same possibilities for council land in St Austell, Liskeard and Penzance.
A Cornwall Council spokesman, said: "The council is aware of Sainsbury's interest in strengthening its presence in Cornwall and it is continuing to look at appropriate land across the county.
"Several of the targeted areas involve land that is owned by Cornwall Council.
"The council offices in Wadebridge are an example of this.
"Informal discussions have also led to other potential sites being highlighted, including land owned by the council in St Austell."
A Sainsbury's spokesman said: "We are considering opportunities to invest in Cornwall and make our offer of a quality weekly shop more available."
8 Comments
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by John Rowe, Penzance
Tuesday, May 19 2009, 5:28AM
“Re. Neil Clements, County Hal, Truro / Restormel; judging by the grammar and punctuation of the letter, I assume you work in the education section of Cornwall Council!!”
by neil clements, County Hal, Truro / Restormel
Thursday, May 14 2009, 1:52PM
“Really really bad idea, obvously none of the commentors live in st austell and see the traffic caused by asda, tesco, mcd's, dolmeo's all being on the same road. Adding another supermarket will only make this worse, plus supermarket are the ones killing the economy in the 1st place.
The other thought that the above commentors dont realise is that i used to work in truro and now can work in restormel, which is clearly already a saving
knock the building down init and then all the complainers can travel to the next district to pay council tax etc”
by Jac, Bodmin
Wednesday, May 13 2009, 11:10AM
“And doesn't this site show just how out of touch with public opinion Pat Harvey and others involved with the council are? Every commenter wants it sold off. When will the council realise we want them to spend as little of our money as possible and stop sticking their noses into every bit of our lives? Bodmin has the highest council tax in Cornwall because of the number of buildings our town council owns. They should sell them off and let a business be responsible for their upkeep instead of the taxpayers.”
by Jac, Bodmin
Wednesday, May 13 2009, 10:58AM
“Good. The taxpayer won't have to pay for the upkeep of an old building and it will be replaced by a private enterprise offering jobs to Cornish workers and choice to Cornish shoppers. Can they sell County Hall to a supermarket too please? Or better still convert it into flats for local people unable to afford homes in Truro.”
by Amanda King, Fowey
Wednesday, May 13 2009, 7:08AM
“Great idea, it would be lovely to see Sainsburys in the area, especially if they do home delivery.”