PLANS to redevelop a major site in Truro which could be worth £170million have taken a step forward.

Cornwall Council’s Cabinet today agreed to provide £3.1m so that a business case and outline planning can be drawn up for the site in Pydar Street.

The council owns the entire site which includes the former Carrick District Council offices and viaduct car park and says that the redevelopment could cost between £100m and £170m to complete.

Initial proposals would see the site becoming home to a faculty from Falmouth University along with 340-bed student accommodation, 300 homes, offices and other facilities.

Cabinet member Mike Eathorne-Gibbons said: “This proposed redevelopment at Pydar Street represents a significant opportunity for our council, Truro and Cornwall.”

Cllr Eathorne-Gibbons said that no decision had been made about how the project could be delivered and the council could complete the whole scheme with partners or sell the site to be developed by another organisation.

He said the aim was to have the planning application ready for submission within 12 months.

Council leader Adam Paynter said it was a “key development” for the council and Cornwall but stressed that it was in the “early stages” with a long way to go.

Truro councillor Rob Nolan said it was a “challenging site” and in the past there had been a “dumbell strategy” to try and work out how to get people to go from Marks & Spencer at one end of the city to Pydar Street and visit the city streets in between.

He said: “This needs to be an economic driver for the town. I am pleased to see the university involved.”

Cllr Nolan said consultation carried out so far had been “fantastic” and urged for it to continue. He said some people in Truro were “looking nervously at what has happened in Falmouth”.

Martyn Alvey, councillor for Feock and Playing Place, said he was concerned about the loss of parking spaces from the Viaduct car park, stating that it had been well used in the summer.

Truro councillor Bert Biscoe was not entirely convinced that having a university faculty in Truro was the best option and said he considered that the higher education strategy in Cornwall was to make use of further education facilities and not “having satellites all over the place”.

He added: “I am not entirely at one with the narrative in the report. This is Truro, it is not Hong Kong. We are trying to cram an awful lot of stuff in what is not a terribly large site.”

Cllr Biscoe said there was a sense of ownership among people in Truro about the site and it was important to get them on board with what is planned.

He said the recent consultation exercise had made people feel like they were being listened to and that their views were being respected as well as encouraging them to think positively about Truro.