New Cornwall cycling and walking trail coming to Perranporth

It is hoped that the new Saints Trail will follow in the footsteps of the Camel Trail, which has more than 500,000 visitors a year.

The council’s strategic planning committee heard that the new trail is expected to attract around 300,000 people a year.

The 15.5km route is part of a wider set of trails being created by the council across the Duchy, which will also include routes from St Newlyn East to Carland Cross, Trispen to Idless, and St Agnes to Threemilestone.

The Perranporth to Newquay route starts at Perranporth Fire Station and cuts through Goonhavern on its way to Newquay. Some of the route will use former railway lines, include new bridges and part of it runs alongside the Lappa Valley railway attraction.

Councillors heard that there was widespread public support for the trail, but also heard from some objectors who were concerned about some aspects of the project.

Two people were concerned about the route of the trail and how the council had been negotiating with landowners affected by the proposals.

It was also explained that a request had been submitted to the Secretary of State calling for a ruling on whether an Environmental Impact Assessment was required for the application.

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The committee heard that no decision had yet been made on that and any granting of planning permission would be subject to the outcome of the request.

John Hewlett, who explained that part of his property was to be affected by the route, but not the section in the application, criticised the conduct of council officials.

He said: “The arrogance that all landowners have experienced from the council has not been welcomed.”

Mr Hewlett claimed that he and his family had been “threatened” with the use of compulsory purchase order by the council four times. He said that a 'granny annexe' on his property was affected by the trail.

But he claimed: “We are going to have our lives and our property completely destroyed for this three-metre path. The arrogance from officers totally abusing their power, they have the power to make sure this goes through and it will.”

Adrian Roper, project director for the Saints Trail, said that he wanted to make sure that the negotiations with landowners like Mr Hewlett were conducted properly.

He said: “I want to work positively with him so that it is fair to him and his family. We need to be consciously aware that we represent Mr Hewlett and the people of Cornwall.

“We are trying to get to a position where we are not making that particular family worse off.”

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Councillors said that they welcomed the project but there were concerns about the number of trees which were to be removed for the trail.

Under the proposals 1,281 trees will be removed, but officers said that these would be replaced with better quality and more appropriate trees and that there would be a net gain overall.

There were also concerns about the facilities which would be provided on the trail, particularly for disabled users and some councillors raised concerns about dog users on the trail.

Committee vice chair Adrian Parsons proposed that the planning application should be approved as recommended by planning officers.

He said: “This scheme has many benefits which really, on the balance of considerations, do outweigh the harm.

“Now, more than ever, it is important that we encourage people to get out, be active and enjoy our great Cornish countryside and all it has to offer.

“It is good to see the biodiversity losses will be mitigated with a net gain. Any loss is regrettable but as we have seen with regards to the detail of the trees involved, any loss is regrettable but if we have a replanting scheme in place that is correct we could replant it with trees that will being far greater long term benefit to the environment.”

The committee voted unanimously in favour to approve the application.