Imerys, Cornwall
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West Carclaze, more formally West Carclaze Garden Village, is a new town still partly under construction, in
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Its area currently falls under the larger
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of
Treverbyn Treverbyn is a civil parish and village in mid-Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, lying north of St Austell. The parish includes the villages of Treverbyn, Carclaze, Stenalees, Penwithick, Bugle (the largest of these), Rescorla, Kerrow Moor, ...
. It was founded out of a plan to build a new, eco-friendly town on a cluster of sites owned by mining company
Imerys IMERYS S.A. is a French Multinational corporation, multinational company that specialises in the production and processing of industrial minerals. The main headquarters is located in Paris and are constituents of the CAC Mid 60 index. Groupe Bru ...
near
St Austell Saint Austell (, ; ) is a town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. At the 2021 Census in the United Kingdom, census it had a population of 20,900. History St Austell was a village centred ...
. The plan was first given outline government approval in July 2009. Outline planning permission was granted in September 2018. In July 2022, its first residents moved in. It's expected that West Carclaze will take around 15 to 17 years to complete, by its conclusion being planned to include its own town centre and 1,500 homes total, as well as a number of leisure facilities, employment space and a nearby technology park. A number of organisations are involved in the development. A
joint venture company A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to access ...
called ECO-BOS has been set up by Imerys, and
Orascom Orascom Construction PLC (OC; ) is an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor based in Cairo, Egypt. The company was Egypt's first multinational corporation. OC is active in more than 25 countries. History OC was established ...
, with assistance from the
Eden Project The Eden Project () is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay clay pit, pit.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map 107 – Fowey, Looe & Lostwithiel''. . The complex is dominated by two h ...
.
Cornwall Council Cornwall Council ( ), known between 1889 and 2009 as Cornwall County Council (), is the local authority which governs the non-metropolitan county of Cornwall in South West England. Since 2009 it has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary ...
leads on some part of the project. As residents begun to move in from 2022 and onwards, its population count was not recorded during the last
2021 UK census 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
. Sources suggest that at least twelve people have settled in the new town so far, minimum.


Background

The plan was provisionally termed China Clay Community, and then St Austell and Clay Country Eco-town. On 13 May 2007, it was shortlisted by the UK's
Department for Communities and Local Government The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for housing, communities, and local government in England. It was established in May 200 ...
as one of the 10 eco-towns proposed for construction in the UK. By June 2009, it was reported that West Carclaze had "some possibility of being built", but "most of the others are absolutely dead in the water". Under the company's plans, 5,000 eco-homes would be built on former china clay quarries and other sites owned by Imerys over a 20-year period. The sites are: *''Baal & West Carclaze'' near the villages of Penwithick and Stenalees. The plan includes 1,800-2,500 homes, a 31-acre lake and eight hectares of employment land. *''
Par Docks Par Docks is an Imerys-owned Harbor, harbour in the village of Par, Cornwall, Par, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, which was used for the export of Kaolinite, china clay from the numerous Imerys sites in the clay-rich region of Mid-Cornwall. ...
'', near to Par: a new marina with facilities for local fishing boats, 500-700 homes, and a biomass energy centre. *''Blackpool'', close to the villages of Trewoon,
High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...
and Lanjeth: 2,100 and 2,500 homes, a new railway station, new schools, a lake and eco-parkland. *''Goonbarrow'' on the edge of the village of
Bugle The bugle is a simple signaling brass instrument with a wide conical bore. It normally has no valves or other pitch-altering devices, and is thus limited to its natural harmonic notes, and pitch is controlled entirely by varying the air a ...
: 450-550 homes. *''Drinnick & Nanpean'' on the edge of the village of
Nanpean Nanpean (from , meaning "little valley") is a village in the civil parish of St Stephen-in-Brannel in Cornwall, United Kingdom.
: 150-300 homes. The homes were to be built with high level of Energy efficiency in British housing, energy efficiency including some with a zero-carbon rating. The plan included several
renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...
sources such as geo-thermal, solar, biomass generation, wind farms, water source heating/cooling and rainwater harvesting. Matthew Taylor, former local MP, was appointed as an independent chair of a board set up to develop the project. In December 2012, the developers of the St Austell eco-town announced that plans had been put on hold indefinitely, blaming the depressed economic situation for their decision. In September 2013, it was announced that Cornwall Council had accepted a grant of more than £1.5 million from Central Government to push for the revival of the project in the West Carclaze area along the A391 from the Carclaze to the edges of Stenalees and Penwithick. The revised plans included announcing 1,500 homes, a primary school, a technology park, solar farms and recreational facilities. A community consultation was held in May and June 2014, this resulted in several changes to the master plan. The project was included in a list of garden villages announced by the Government in January 2017, with West Carclaze being among one of fourteen commonly reported on in the press as well. The garden villages have been reported to be influenced by
Ebenezer Howard Sir Ebenezer Howard (29 January 1850 – 1 May 1928) was an English urban planner and founder of the garden city movement, known for his publication '' To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform'' (1898), the description of a utopian city in wh ...
's
garden city movement The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with Green belt, greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, i ...
. Despite their branding as "villages", the garden villages were described as intended to be "modern market towns with a focus on mixed use", in line with the original eco-town concept outlining that West Carclaze would be a town. By June 2022, West Carclaze was ready to such an extent that the keys to its first two homes were handed over to Cornwall Council to inspect, and they expected around twelve homes in total would finally be ready in the following weeks. One month later, its first residents were able to move in as anticipated.


Reception

The plan has received some local opposition. The "No Ecotown" group has fears that few of the homes will be affordable as well as increased traffic congestion, lack of employment opportunities, swamping of local villages and damage to wildlife habitats.


Project progress

The project received a £9 million share of a £60 million government handout for its initiation. *Prince Charles House, designed by PRP Architects, an affordable housing eco-development of 31 flats for older people in St Austell was completed in April 2012 *78 properties in Penwithick received energy efficiency and renewable energy measures. Major improvements to the A391 were completed in June 2016, these include a new 1.6 km section and two new bridges. Funding was received from the
European Regional Development Fund The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is one of the European Structural and Investment Funds allocated by the European Union. Its purpose is to transfer money from richer regions (not countries), and invest it in the infrastructure and se ...
. In 2021, co-developer MiTek announced that the objective was for the entire town to be carbon net zero by 2050. It has also been outlined that each home being built in future will use Air Source Heat Pumps, have integrated solar panels on their rooves, and e-bike charging facilities to discourage the use of cars. As of April 2024, it's been announced that West Carclaze is undergoing its second phase of development. On the official website for the project, it's been expressed that Eco-Bos intend to expand the town's boundaries by incorporating the neighbouring hamlet of Carluddon into West Carclaze.


See also

* St Austell Clay Pits *
New towns in the United Kingdom The new towns in the United Kingdom were planned under the powers of the New Towns Act 1946 ( 9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 68) and later acts to relocate people from poor or bombed-out housing following the Second World War. Designated new towns were place ...
*
Eco-towns Eco-towns are a government-sponsored programme of new towns to be built in England, which are intended to achieve exemplary standards of sustainability. In 2007, the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) announced a competition t ...
*
Garden city movement The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with Green belt, greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, i ...


References


External links


West Carclaze Official WebsiteCornwall Council Eco-communitiesEco-BosA Vision for our Former Mining Sites
– Imerys page about the project {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Austell and Clay Eco-towns Populated places in Cornwall St Austell