Protesters win battle to save green space
Protest Against Innis Downs (PAID) was formed within days of the plans being submitted to Restormel Borough Council in mid-November 2007.
A planning committee from the council met in December last year and decided to say no to the Innis Downs plan – which was then appealed by applicants Land Planning Group.
Phil Cottom, from PAID, said: "We weren't surprised that they appealed against the decision for refusal.
"We spent a lot of money hiring a solicitor to fight our case at the appeal.
"It seems to have worked – the appeal has also been turned down and now everyone in the area can breathe a little easier again.
"The appeal did find a need for a station along the A30 – but the harm to the environment at Innis Downs was too great and this outweighed the need for a service station here."
Deferred
Councillors from Restormel also said no to the other two applications sent in for service stations, at Woodland Barton and Auberge Rock Asterisk – both located just outside of Roche.
The Woodland Barton plans were revised and resubmitted at the beginning of this year.
A planning meeting was held at the beginning of this month, where councillors deferred a decision on the plans as they wanted to see what the outcome of the appeal would be regarding the Innis Downs plans.
Now the appeal has been refused, a new date to decide on the Woodland Barton plans has been set for July 15.
Geraldine Alsop, chair of the protest group, said: "It's unfortunate that they said there is a need for a service station along the A30 – but I still don't think that it means it has to be at Woodland Barton.
"Our protest group isn't as organised as PAID but that doesn't mean we will be less successful.
"My concern is that to save money, the council will be bullied into saying yes as they don't have enough money to hold an appeal on this application as well.
"Hopefully though, this won't be the case."
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